King Mystogan
by Waca
Summary: A story about one of my favorite couples: Erza/Jellal. This is what could happen in Edoras, with their Edoras version. Come and read as they fight against denial and conspiracies!
1. Mystogan

_**King Mystogan**_

**Disclaimer : **well, duh, Fairy Tail does not belong to me. Otherwise Jellal would not have such a cruel fate and Mystogan would have kicked the sorry asses of Laxus and the King of Edoras himself. But I thank Hiro Mashima for this wonderful manga! I love it!

I hope you will like this little fic! Also, please tell me if some things are not grammatically correct, because English is my second language. Enjoy your reading and dream of Erza/Jellal awesomeness!

_**1. Mystogan**_

She did not like him, not one bit –she despised him with such a strong force! Only a woman as fierce as her, as fierce as her own red flaming hair, could permit herself to spit at his name –_him_, the _King_.

Erza drew her knees to her, hugging them tightly as she looked at the sleeping figure of her King, his labored breathing, the sweat rolling down his blue locks, the slight grimace of pain that tensed his usually soft features. The fire she had lit between them wasn't strong enough to stop the darkness from the cave to creep on them, not even strong enough to keep him warm, and she could see him shivering in his slumber. It was an odd weight, this feeling of darkness, coldness and unknown, one weight she did not like to feel. She was made for battle, not for playing hide-and-seek with a whole squad of assassins. But there were no way she could get out of here, not when the king was _that _injured.

"I hate you," she murmured in the dark, narrowing her eyes.

She did hate him, really. This pathetic excuse of a king…

Prince Jellal had saved their world a year ago, as they said. She knew otherwise, _he _was the one who _ripped them off their magic_, she was sure of it. A few months later, he was crowned king under the name of King Mystogan the first, as there had been so much Jellals before, and this was a new era; but she knew that wasn't the real reason. He only was uncomfortable with this name –Jellal- that he hadn't used for himself for most of his life. Yes, he was a poor little, sissy, whiny wizard, lost without his magic, utterly afraid of people and not even trying to raise his voice in the terrible racket his own counselors made.

King Mystogan, a good king? Tch! He didn't fit at all. At _all_. Much too shy of a person.

A soft coughing was heard in the dark, shaking her off her thoughts, and Erza stood up, watching him with careful eyes. Her eyes widened when she saw the blood running down his chin, and she hurried herself next to him, taking a damp cloth to wipe it with extra cautious –she felt as if he was going to break like a poor, pathetic porcelain doll.

"Are you okay, King Mystogan?"

She never called him "My King", neither did she call him "Your Highness", as she did not recognize him as a king, and even less as a great one.

Mystogan did not respond, and she realized with some worry that he wasn't asleep anymore –he was _unconscious_. This situation was getting worst and worst by any passing minute, and if Hughes' squad rescue did not hurry and find them soon, the assassins would reach their goal. And there was no way this was happening with her, Erza Knightwalker, Champion of Edolas and Grand General of all armies. No way.

"Don't you die on me," she snapped between gritted teeth.

She carefully laid an armored finger on his bloody lips, frowning as his weak breath almost did not cause the metal to steam up. She took off both of her armored gloves and threw them on the floor, hating him even more for that, for she felt naked when unarmored. Fortunately she could still keep her cuirass, even if her clothes underneath were still moist from their fall in the river a few hours before.

She changed the wet cloth on his forehead, pressing her free hand on his neck, trying to feel his pulse –it was really weak. Just like him.

"You should never have become King of this land," she said in a serious tone.

She meant it.

"_You should never have become King of this land."_

_King Mystogan raised his calm stare from his paperwork, lifting an eyebrow with surprise._

"_I beg your pardon, General Knightwalker?"_

"_I said you shouldn't have become the King in the first place."_

"_I heard that, thank you. But didn't you forget to announce yourself before entering?"_

"_I don't see why I should be doing so. Only great Kings are worthy of my respect. You are nothing else than a little wizard, a sorry excuse of a prince who fled to Earthland instead of fulfilling his duty. And now, without your magic, you aren't even worth a wizard anymore."_

_She sat on his desk, her armored leg right under his nose, preventing him of ignoring her as he was doing __so before during her little rant. She continued in a hard voice:_

"_Just…what are you worth of now? Miss your little friends from Earthland Fairy Tail?"_

_Mystogan's quill trembled, only for a fraction of second, but that was enough for her t__o see it. She smirked and leant in, their faces only inches apart, which forced him to look up at her._

_"Do you even need help in something as simple as signing your own name? Oh, right…"_

_Her armored __fingers closed around his wrist, as merciless as claws._

"…_it does mean to bear a great responsibility, to sign as a King…no wonder that you're that afraid."_

_Mystogan's eyes narrowed, their green color shifting in__to a darker shade._

_"Get out."_

_She had the urge to answer him to make her do so, but decided agains__t. She would keep this fun for more suited times._

Erza smirked at the memory. More suited times…just like the one when everything had turned wrong during a meeting with the counselors. Mystogan had proposed new initiatives for the people, but the counselors, being rich, fat merchants and aristocrats, had protested vehemently against it. This one time Mystogan had not been able to speak at all, and Erza was the one who had made them all shut up.

_A deafening silence filled the room as the counselors quivered under the hard glare of the __Grand General. Erza smirked at them, her foot still on the large meeting table, her gold and chocolate robes cascading from the steel cuirass around her bare leg. Her sword was still planted in the wood, her armored hand clasped around the polished hilt. Each stare she crossed hurried away from her with fear, until she crossed Mystogan's._

_His eyes were wide, unbelieving, and held something akin to anger. He stood up slowly, and announced in a very soft voice –a weak voice, decided Erza._

"_We all seem to be a little tired here. Let everyone cool down and take some rest, this meeting is postponed." _

_Without waiting, he left the room, but not without stopping at the threshold of his personal alley and turning around to glare at Erza._

"_Ah, and General Knightwalker, please do not unsheathe your sword in this place."_

_It was at this moment Erza decided to teach him a lesson, and instead of leaving with the other counselors, she followed Mystogan in his private passageway, ignoring the shocked stares the counselors gave her. She slammed the door behind her and rushed towards him, her sword still in her hand. Mystogan gasped with surprise and unsheathed a long dagger, for he never held any sword. Both weapons clashed with violence, and she forced him down the corridor –he was weak, she noted with a smirk, he was completely incapable of standing against her. She doubted that even with a sword he could be more efficient; he was fairly good at escaping and blocking her attacks, but everything about him was too much measured, too much careful, and Erza was a fierce, unpredictable warrior. Even without magic, she held a destructive strength, and it was a matter of minutes before she overpowered him and pinned him to the floor, straddling him, her sword against his throat and her other hand crashing his, making him drop his dagger with a hiss._

_His eyes narrowed and bore into hers._

"_Just what do you think you're doing, General Knightwalker?" _

"_My unsheathed sword just saved your ass in that meeting, King Mystogan. I advise you not to try and boss me around when I could easily slaughter you."_

_He held her glare, his lips thinning in a defying smile –even then, it was still a soft smile, and she hated him for the warmth he spread into her chest._

"_And what will you do if I refuse to play your little, childish game, General Knightwalker?"_

_She bent over him, her breath on his, until his stare wavered with confusion, his already fissured confidence being crashed into tiny pieces. She found him cute like this, and she hated him even more for it._

"_I wonder about that" she crooned. "Maybe I could rape you."_

_His eyes widened, more with surprise than actual fear. He did not fear her, she knew that well, and maybe that was what enraged her the most about him. And then he laughed._

"_I'd like to see you try!"_

_He did not believe her. He knew she wouldn't harm him, because she was faithful to Edoras and would obey its King, even if it was _him_. And he was right, never would she really do something else than annoy the crap of him. But she could still try to see if he would believe her, even if only for one second._

_Swiftly sheathing her sword, she forced her hand down his neck, tearing apart his velvet, embroidered in gold thread cloak, then his silk robes and the shirt underneath, marveling at his soft skin –no, she did not think that. She crashed her lips against his, kissing him in a harsh way, but he did not protest, did not try to push her away. She wanted to scare the shit out of him –but it did not happen. What happened, none of them ever did talk of it again. But somewhere in the kiss, she had loosened her grip, and he had reached for her cuirass and held upon her, softly, but strongly forcing her to stand up with him. _

_His bedroom was just a few doors away, and both of them knew it. He looked calm and collected, but she could feel his desperate need, and something in his eyes still defied her. She pushed him, not gentle at all._

"_Lead the way, Your Highness"_

_Maybe it was because she did call him "Your Highness" for the first time that he actually obeyed to her. For just that short moment –the walk in the private corridor-, he led her as if he was the one ruling her. But as soon as the door was closed behind her, she dominated him._

_She was the one who undressed the both of them, the one who pushed him on the large four-poster bed and sit astride him. She was the one who initiated their hungry, almost desperate kisses, and hasted caresses. But as dominating as she was, she knew she was not raping him –and she felt something tighten in her chest as she caught the loneliness in his eyes, just before he closed them. Angered by the feelings he stirred in her, she kissed hard his neck, making him gasp. It was a sound she absolutely loved, but not until she heard his ragged breath as she rode him with viciously slow and deep thrusts, and she decided the only thing she would ever love in him would be this –these long, deep, rough moans that escaped his throat when she had stopped her teasing and quickened her pace._

_It wasn't __a gentle love-making. It wasn't even to comfort him. She only sought her own pleasure and did not bother about pleasuring him, but she knew with some pride that she had been good, very good for a virgin. Heh, she was Erza Knightwalker after all, she was gifted in everything she did. As the both of them reached their pick, he moaned in a low, husky voice –ah, maybe he had been a virgin too._

"_Erza..."_

_Shaken from her ecstasy, she shivered and looked down at him, for it was the first time he had called her by her first name. She was sore and sweaty from their love-making, and his nails were still buried in her hips, his knee slightly bent, and her still bestriding him. He shyly looked away from her, panting deeply, his cheeks slightly flushed and she hated him for looking that handsome in this instant. Slowly, she rose, leaving him lying on the rumpled bed. He turned on his side, slowly reaching for a sheet to cover himself as she dressed herself rapidly, wiping the blood that was sliding down her legs. _

_When she was fully armored, she strode to the door, hardly feeling as confident as her stance made her look to be._

"_General Knightwalker" Mystogan called her back._

_She stopped, her armored hand on the doorknob, and looked at him from the corner of her eye. She instantly regretted it, and hated him for the sight he gave her. Mystogan was tiredly leaning on his elbow, his tousled blue hair still moist from their activities, the dark tattoo circling his right eye deepening his green-grayish stare. He was so damn beautiful, at this moment, that she wanted nothing more than to come back to him for another round._

"_What is it, King Mystogan?" she spat._

"_This…never happened."_

"_Never" she nodded, harshly._

_No way people would learn that her, the strong Champion of Edoras, slept with a weakling like him. This was not happening. Even if, deep-down, she knew that by not getting out at once from his private corridor, the counselors who had seen her going in would have made a pretty good guess of what they did._

_And s__o? She didn't like him. She only wanted to fuck a King. _

"Erza"

She started at the throaty moan, and bent over him, softly taking the already dry cloth from his burning forehead. He was conscious again, thank God, and was looking at her with feverish eyes.

"Er…za…" he called again, as if he did not see her.

"I am here, Your Highness"

Crap. She called him "Your Highness" for the second time. It won't happen again.

"I…can't…see you…why is it…so dark?"

She frowned, and her heart accelerated at an insane speed. She bent more, only inches from his face, her hand softly stroking his blue locks.

"I am right here, can't you see me?"

" I…I can't…it is too dark…"

His voice broke, and he coughed again, more blood spluttering from his mouth. Scared, Erza held him against her chest, to keep him in a sitting position, as he was drowning in his own blood. She kept her hand on his forehead, feeling his burning fever, and she hugged him tighter, praying hard that the rescue squad would arrive, and fast.

"What did you do to me?" she whined, tears forming in her eyes.

This was not happening. She did not like him.

"_Your Highness, the main road has been blocked by __trees"_

_King Mystogan frowned at his soldier, his hand tightening around the clasps of his cloak, as the wind blew with more force, disheveling his hair._

"_Trees?"_

"_Yes, Your Highness. They seem to have fallen because of last night's tempest."_

"_Amazing! We have no choice, we will have to take another road!" said the General Hughes._

"_This is not a good idea," responded Mystogan. "The other road is not only more difficult, but it also passes by very suited places for __an ambush. I will not risk that. Let the trees be handled by our soldiers."_

"_Tch, King Mystogan, think a little," smirked Erza. "Not only will you tire down your soldiers by doing so, but also you will be late. That wouldn't give a good impression to your guest, would it?"_

_Mystogan hesitated. Hughes scratched his head and added:_

"_I agree with her. Being late would not look good. And who would ambush us? We have the Champion of Edoras with us!"_

_The soldiers waited for Mystogan to speak, watching him expectantly. He had no choice but to agree._

Erza felt something burn her eyes. It was her fault, in the first place, if they had taken this god damned road…this road which passed by a precipice and big, perfect rocks for an ambush…

It was her fault if the King had been injured.

"_Which river is down there?" asked Hughes, pointing at the precipice._

"_Silvershones" answered curtly Erza. "You would know it if you had paid more attention to the briefing."_

"_Could you please hurry up?" came Mystogan's voice from behind them._

_Hughes horsewhipped his mount, while Erza turned to answer shit to her King. But she didn't have the occasion. With sick, hissing sounds, three long arrows passed right by her side to drive themselves right into Mystogan's chest, making him gasp from the violent impact, his eyes widening. In her horror, Erza yelled his name, and jumped from her mount, hurrying over the King; suddenly, the sky darkened with clouds of arrows. Hughes yelped as an arrow stuck into his shoulder, and his mount bolted. Erza caught Mystogan as he fell and she yelled at Hughes._

"_Go get some help! The King's wounded!"_

_The soldiers were falling. Erza could not fight against invisible enemies, not when she had a wounded King in her arms and a rain of arrows falling on her. Hesitating for only a second, she dove into the precipice, having caught from the corner of her eye Hughes breaking through the assassins and fleeing to the castle. She hugged tightly Mystogan as they fell in a harsh splash into the river. Her armor almost drowned her, but she was strong and desperate, and she finally managed in reaching a cavern, pulling Mystogan with her._

_He had lost consciousness, and his shirt was already scarlet with blood. She hastily took off his cloak and shirt and tried to stop the blood flow, ripping his shirt into shreds to bandage him. She lit a little fire to dry his cloak and her robes, hoping that the smoke wouldn't be seen by the assassins. She stood naked next to him, pressing her hands against his chest, trying to stop the blood; but the bandage was already soaked with blood, and for the first time, she felt desperate and weak. She was a strong warrior, but she had made a terrible mistake with choosing the right path to take, and she did not know how to cure deep wounds. _

_Her clothes were still wet when she put them on, as she felt too unsecure without her armor, but she really waited for his cloak to be fully dry before covering his shivering body with it. He was not bleeding anymore, but his skin was burning: he had a high fever._

"_Do not worry, King Mystogan," she assured when he opened exhausted eyes and looked at her. "Hughes has managed to escape, surely he will bring back some help."_

_He nodded weakly before closing his eyes in agony. She watered a cloth and pressed it against his forehead._

"_Trust me, King Mystogan. You will be safe," she declared boldly._

_A small, mocking smile formed on his lips._

"_I know," he whispered softly before falling in a restless sleep, leaving her even more unsecure than before._

_What if…what if he…died? That wasn't happening. She was Erza Knightwalker, Grand General of all armies, Champion of Edoras. She would not fail. The King would be safe._

"I failed."

Tears poured from her eyes as she hugged him tightly.

"You are not safe."

She cried harder, her face buried in his neck, the strong smell of blood filling her nose. His breath was ragged and he kept coughing out blood.

"Please don't die on me…"

He stopped coughing and pulled weakly on her robes, his voice croaking:

"Er…za…there is…someone…"

That pulled her out of her distress. A cold shiver ran up through her spine and she carefully laid him down on the floor, her eyes narrowed and her ears careful.

There were there.

Quietly, she reached for her sword, unsheathing it in a swift movement when whistles of arrows cut through the thick silence. She blocked every single one of them and sped into the entry of the cavern, her warrior instincts kicking in, and it was only a matter of seconds before she found out each one of them.

They were trained assassins. Well, she was Erza Knightwalker, Champion of Edoras, Grand General of all armies, and ex-Fairy Hunter. No assassin would escape her. And none did.

When she came back, her sword dripping with blood, she found Mystogan wide-awake, his breath still labored.

"The assassins are no more, my King," she said, kneeling down next to him.

He turned his stare to her, a small smile forming on his lips.

"I know," he answered.

She bent slowly and kissed him, gently, tenderly. His fingers weakly closed around one strand of long, scarlet hair (she had not kept her hair short, for she was quite vain of her hair).

"I trust you," he said softly.

She kissed him again, fighting back the big sobs that were gathering in her throat, but the tears escaped to her control and rolled down her cheeks in a nonstop river.

"I'm sorry," she hiccupped. "I'm sorry, My King, I failed…"

As she went to kiss him again, he closed his eyes and past out for the last time.

**To be continued...**


	2. Erza Knightwalker

_**King Mystogan**_

**Disclaimer: **still don't own Fairy Tail.

Finally I got inspired because I felt like shit today, so I had to keep my mind off and to do so I wrote all day. So here you are! I may consider about doing a few more chapters, but I'm not sure about it. Please tell me if you liked it!

And a big thank you for those who reviewed, it really made me feel better. Bonne lecture!

_**2. Erza Knightwalker**_

He did not like her, not one bit –he couldn't help comparing her with Erza Scarlet, the strongest woman wizard of _his_ Fairy Tail. And he couldn't help either remembering the way she shot down his dear Pantherlily from behind.

She looked like Erza, she was named Erza, but she wasn't _Erza_. She wasn't kind-hearted like her. Even Titania had a heart under her shining armor; Knightwalker had none. But, he had to admit, she was loyal and strong, and he needed her in his reborn kingdom.

Mystogan sighed, slowly sitting up on his bed. He was only dressed in pants, as he had to stay in bed, and his chest was bandaged. It had been days already since the ambush, but his wounds still stung quite painfully.

"Coco."

The young maid, who was tying up the curtains to let the light in, turned over with a bright smile.

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Could you please give me my dressing-gown?"

"Sure, Your Highness!"

She hurried over him, handing him the velvet, dark blue dressing-gown, and carefully laid it on his shoulders. Mystogan shakily stood up from his bed, making the little girl protest.

"Your Highness! You shouldn't be standing yet!"

"It's okay," answered Mystogan. "Please give me one of my rods, I'll be fine."

"But…"

She looked at his rods, the ones that had once held great magic. He kept them as a souvenir, in a big vase. She chose the lest fancy one and handed it over him.

"Will this one do, Your Highness?"

"It will. Thank you."

It was very hard to walk without wincing of pain, but it did help to have a good rod. Mystogan left Coco while she was changing his bed's sheets and choose to take a private alley. It was a place he liked a lot; shaped like a roof-covered bridge and overhanging the gardens, it had a peaceful atmosphere that usually calmed down his fears and doubts.

Mystogan missed his magic. He couldn't deny it: all his life, he had been manipulating magic, and a powerful one. He had always loved the way magic felt in his hands, in his mind. Each times his counselor annoyed the crap of him, he blocked them out by imagining how easily he could have put them to sleep…if only he still had his magic. He could have wandered peacefully in the whole city without anybody noticing him. He could have get out of the castle without anybody seeing him doing so as many times as he would have wanted to.

Mystogan missed Fairy Tail. When he was younger, he used to stay in the guild for longer times, for his "Anima" journeys were long and tiring and he needed rest. His fellow Fairy Tail comrades would never notice him, for he was always up there, on the second floor. But he loved to watch their playful fights and songs. Laxus was the only one who had noticed him and even seen his face as he used to eat with Gildarts and the Master on the second floor.

He loved the Master just the way he loved Pantherlily: like a father. Makarov was nothing like the crazy king of Edoras. He was kind and wise, and would always give him good advice. Mystogan would stay hours telling him about his journeys and his missions, but never told him about Edoras. Not that he did not want to, just that he knew he shouldn't. In any case, he suspected Makarov to have guessed it all, just as Laxus had.

The day Erza Scarlet joined the guild, Makarov came and told him about Jellal. And since that time, Mystogan hid his face in addition of putting everyone at sleep. Only a few times did he actually speak to Erza Scarlet. He held her in high esteem, and admired her strength. He did not doubt Titania would become one of the strongest wizard on Earthland. And he hoped that someday, his "other him" would come back to her.

But this Erza…this Knightwalker…she was nothing like Titania. Only her tough appearance seemed the same. But on the inside, she was a heartless person, a person filled with bloodlust and hatred. She seemed to have calmed down since her fight with Titania, but still, he did not like her.

He did not trust her.

_He raised an eyebrow at her, repeating with a doubting tone;_

"_You wish to enroll in my army?"_

_She bowed her head._

"_Yes, King Mystogan. I recognize my mistakes, and do not wish to leave in exile with the previous king. My duty is bound to this Kingdom, whoever the King might be."_

"_I do not wish to have villains in my army. Especially strong ones like you."_

"_But you accepted Hughes and Sugarboy back. Why is that so? Why is it you would trust them and not me?"_

_She was standing straight in front of him, refusing to kneel down. Her eyes were unwavering, her expression hard. Her scarlet hair was cut short, a remembrance of her fight with Titania. He stayed silent for a moment, searching for something to say. He couldn't tell her he did not want her here because of Erza Scarlet, who had been a dear friend of him, even if he had watched her from afar. He couldn't tell her he just did not trust her, did not like her._

"_Is it because of Erza Scarlet?" she then murmured in a serious tone. "I will not bring shame to her name anymore. I have changed, and I will prove it by helping you to save this Kingdom."_

_Her eyes were blazing, her stance was proud and fierce, and for the first time she did resemble to the real Erza. Maybe he could really give her a chance._

"_Is that so?"_

"_I will never break my oath."_

"_Then, kneel down to your King, Erza Knightwalker, Grand General of all armies, Champion of Edoras."_

_She knelt down, but glared at him. _

"_I will never deceive you as the Grand General, King Mystogan. However, I will never recognize you as the legitimate King, and never again will I kneel as I do today." _

_At this instant he knew he would never__ make peace with her, would never ever trust her with his life._

Mystogan leant against a pillar, hissing with pain. It was very tiring to stand like this, even with his rod, but he did not feel like returning in his bedroom. He looked at the young maids playing in the garden and the gardeners clipping the bushes. Sugarboy was boasting near the fountain in the middle of his court of giggling noblewomen, and it was quite a funny sight. Mystogan turned over and looked at the forest-covered mountains, on the other side of the garden. He really liked that landscape, it reminded him of his old journeys, especially the one he had with little Wendy. He smiled at this memory. It was one of his best; he had very much loved the little girl, feeling like a big brother to her. He was glad she had joined Fairy Tail, and he missed her as well. Hell, he even missed the noisy Natsu !

If only he had seen them more often, if only he had spoken with them…if only he hadn't been so _shy. _This was something he truly regretted. Knowing that he would return to Edoras, he had refused to get close to his Fairy Tail comrades, preferring to watch them from afar. But nonetheless loving them dearly.

Sometimes, Mystogan felt so lonely that he made terrible mistakes. When in that state, he could not find the strength to stand against his counselors, and especially not against the fierce Erza Knightwalker. This woman just enjoyed teasing him and breaking through his barriers, and he was more and more afraid she would actually succeed in breaking his confidence. She already did, once, and he refused to think about it. How shameful it was, and the memories wouldn't stop plaguing him.

"_I wonder about that" she crooned. "Maybe I could rape you."_

_She had to be kidding! He could not believe she would dare say that to her own King! But then again, this was Erza Knightwalker, and he did not trust her__. He tempted her, though, to see how far she was capable to go. _

"_I'd like to see you try!"_

_Her eyes lit up in a fierce, blazing stare. __Swiftly sheathing her sword, she forced her hand down his neck, tearing apart his velvet, embroidered in gold thread cloak, then his silk robes and the shirt underneath, surprising the young King. He did not believe she would go that far, but she did, crashing her lips against his, kissing him in a harsh way. He should have protested, he should have pushed her away –he wasn't that weak, and was perfectly capable of doing so. But something broke in his chest, something snapped in his mind, and suddenly he just felt that overwhelming desire of warmth, of _her._ And as soon as she loosened her grip on his wrist, he reached for her cuirass and held upon her, forcing her to stand up with him, looking at her in the eyes. For a brief moment, they just stared at each other, breathing heavily, and then she raised a hand to push him, hard._

"_Lead the way, Your Highness."_

_He did not trust her, no, he did not. He did not even like her. Even if she did__ call him Your Highness for the first time, why would he actually obey to her? He was the one who was giving her a favor, he was the King, for God's sake! So why was it that while leading her to his bedroom, he only felt broken and tired? He was weary, and craved for warmth, and as soon as the door was closed behind her, he let her do as she wanted._

_No, he did not trust her at all. So why was it he let her undress him? Touch him? Push him back on his own bed?_

_She was standing in front of him, and she had never been that beautiful before; her scarlet hair, full of warmth and passion gushing down her bare, strong shoulders and her naked body. She had a__ full bust, a slim waist, and large hips, long legs and a tan skin marred with thin scars, reminders of her status. She was a warrior, a beautiful warrior woman, and in this instant, as she climbed on the bed to bestride him, she was all his -and he was totally, completely overpowered by her. _

_He did not like her. He did not. She wasn't even as kind-hearted as Erza Scarlet. But as she bent down and kissed him, fiercer than ever, he found himself desiring her in a way he had never, ever desired his friend Erza Scarlet. As her tongue invaded his mouth, he felt his lower stomach lighten with a burning fire. Her thighs were hot and moist against his hips, and she placed her rough hands first on his nape, making him shiver with her touch, before sliding them down his neck, his chest and then the hard, clenching muscles of his stomach. By then she had totally aroused him, and he returned her kisses with a passion he had never felt before, his hands reaching for her shoulder blades, then stroking down her breasts to her rear, and he gasped as she nearly bit his neck. She chose that moment to thrust onto him, making him break through her virginity, and lifted herself up and down in an agonizingly slow pace, making him pant and sink his nails into her hips. The sensation of her, around him, wet and tight and warm, was driving him mad, and she stopped teasing him –quickening the pace, seeking her own blazing pleasure._

_He surely was totally blushing, as he could not prevent himself from moaning and felt embarrassed for this, but, ah, he didn't care, for she was moaning louder than him –or was it just in a higher tune? _

_They did not last long, as it was their first time for the both of them__, and he moaned out as the last rush of pleasure rushed through his spine –and she yelled, a long, shrill yell, her whole, glistering body shivering from her high, before bowing her head, looking at him with a strange, curious stare, and he wondered if his moan actually held a meaning. Had he said something particular for her to look at him with these almost _gentle_ eyes? Shying with that disturbing thought, he looked away from her, trying to catch back his breath, the tire kicking in fast. Now, he only wanted to burry himself into his duvet and fall into a deep slumber._

_Slowly, __she rose, leaving him with the coldness of the ambient air, and he turned on his side, slowly reaching for a sheet to cover himself. He batted his eyelashes, fighting his sleepiness, and watched her as she dressed herself rapidly, noting the blood that was sliding down her legs –she had been a virgin. Sure, he had felt it when he had broken through her, but it still did surprise him a little. Why would that beautiful, strong woman choose to lose something as precious as this for a quick fuck with a King she clearly despised? She truly was magnificent, and he was glad she was almost done dressing up, because the sole sight of her in her naked glory was turning him on again. _

_When she was fully armored, she strode to the door in a confident way, almost like a victorious conqueror would, and suddenly he had the need to call her back, just to be sure._

"_General Knightwalker__."_

_She stopped, her armored hand on the doorknob, and looked at him from the corner of her eye. Tiredly leaning on his elbow, Mystogan looked up at her, taking in her beautiful features, her rich long hair, and the way she held her body. _

"_What is it, King Mystogan?" she spat._

"_This…never happened."_

"_Never" she nodded, harshly, and she stepped out, sharply closing the door behind her._

_H__e knew that by bringing her into his bedroom, when the counselors had seen her going into his private corridor, he had made what they did pretty obvious for anyone. Surely the whole castle knew it by now._

_But it did not matter. What did matter was the answer she gave him._

_He could trust her. _

Mystogan closed his eyes, breathing deeply. The thought of her, naked and sitting astride him, was so endearing that he could feel his turn on building up again, and that was quite painful as it stirred his wounded belly muscles. He had to calm down.

Mystogan looked at the landscape again, absently stroking his bandaged chest, where his most grave wound still deviously burned him. He had almost died in this last ambush, and that had turned the castle upside-down. It would be impossible to find who had hired these assassins. Not to mention that Erza Knightwalker had actually killed every single one of them, making it impossible to interrogate them. Some people even suspected her of being the traitor, but he would not believe that, no matter what. Not after having heard her cry.

"_I failed."_

_Her voice was small and trembling, and he coul__d feel her hugging him tightly, surrounding him with her warmth._

"_You are not safe."_

_Tears rushed out into her usually strong voice. __She then cried, and cried harder, her face buried in his neck. He could not see anymore, he could hardly hear her. Sensing her distress, he desperately wanted to comfort her, but he kept coughing out blood._

"_Please don't die on me…"_

_It couldn't be her voice –it was a pitiful, heart-broken whine. The Champion of Edoras, the fearless Erza Knightwalker __could not be letting her guard down like this. And suddenly, he felt it –the danger hanging in the air. He stopped coughing and pulled weakly on her robes, his voice croaking:_

"_Er…za…there is…someone…"_

_S__he instantly stopped crying and carefully laid him down on the floor. Quietly, she reached for her sword, unsheathing it in a swift movement when whistles of arrows cut through the thick silence. She blocked every arrow and sped into the entry of the cavern. Mystogan turned his head, looking ahead, but he couldn't see anything –he could only hear the hard sound of metal against metal, and the cries of agony of the assassins as she brought down each single one of them. _

_They were trained a__ssassins, but she was Erza Knightwalker, Champion of Edoras, Grand General of all armies, and ex-Fairy Hunter. No assassin would escape her, and none did. But what did she think she was doing? He needed them so as to interrogate them! He wanted to shout, to call her back –but his voice wouldn't cross his throat, and it was over soon. When she came back, her sword dripping with blood, she knelt down beside him, saying in a soft tone; _

"_The assassins are no more, my King."_

_He turned his stare to her, a small smile forming on his lips. She had called him her King, and at that moment, he felt safe with her. He had never doubted she would lose to these assassins, even if there had been hundreds of them._

"_I know," he answered simply._

_She bent slowly and kissed him on the mouth, her kiss gentle and tender. He weakly reached for her hair, closing his fingers around one strand of her long, rich, scarlet hair. He had never loved her as much as he did in that moment. _

"_I trust you," he said softly, while his sight continued to fade into darkness. _

_She kissed him again, trembling and crying –he could feel her tears falling on his cheeks._

"_I'm sorry," she hiccupped. "I'm sorry, My King, I failed…"_

"_Did she?" he silently wondered a__s his mind wandered away, her sobs fading into the nothingness. And he could not remember what happened next, losing consciousness over this last thought;_

"_But even if she did…why is she crying?"_

"You are safe."

It was a quiet murmur, but it stirred him out of his thoughts, and Mystogan turned around to look at his Grand General, standing all clad in her gold and chocolate robes and strong, shining armor. Her vibrant scarlet hair streamed down her back. Her eyes were dark and shining with an emotion he did not recognize.

"I am," he answered calmly.

It only was a façade, for his chest was swarming with warm, dizzying feelings for her. She bent her head, her eyes soft.

"I am glad. I was afraid our Kingdom would lose its King again."

"How would that be possible?"

She looked up at him with surprise. Strong words of love were rushing through him, but he didn't dare to mouth them.

"I had trusted my life with the Champion of Edoras. How could I have lost it?"

She stayed frozen, her mouth slightly open. For a moment, he could see the emotion breaking through her eyes, the tenderness swarming between them, just before she stored them behind a steel armor. Her expression hard, she pronounced;

"I do not like you. I despise you. And this…"

She unsheathed her sword and pressed its tip against his bandaged chest, making him wince.

"...this is the proof you will never be a real King. And for this, I absolutely detest you."

Turning over, she left his private alley with long, gracious strides, her armor clicking and her scarlet hair flowing behind her. And his last remaining strength left him, and he fell on the floor, sitting against the pillar, his breathing uneven and ragged.

"Your Highness!" cried out Coco from the threshold, and she hurried over him, kneeling next to him, helping him to stand up."Your Highness, I had told you not to go! Here, I will help you to go back to your chambers, please lean on me."

Mystogan nodded briefly, but he wasn't listening to her. For his mind was only thinking of Erza, and how she did manage to break him into pieces each time she spoke to him.

"Erza Knightwalker…just you wait…I will break through your armor. I promise."

**To be continued...**


	3. Night Spar

_**King Mystogan**_

**Disclaimer: **Blablablah. You know. I don't own Fairy Tail. It is the property of Hiro Mashima, whom I thank for the Gajeel/Levy cuteness we witnessed in chapter 210! Yeah! Go go go Levy! You can do it!

On the anime, I was so happy about the Oracion Seis arc! I hope we'll get to see Jellal next monday. I saw in the preview that we will at least see his coffin...

Oh, but I was so disappointed with Wendy's voice. I did not like it, neither did I like Charle's voice. Seriously, the two of them were just plain dopey. Especially Wendy. Her voice was much too high-pitched.

Anyway, thank you very much for your reviews! I hope you will like this chapter that, I dunno why, ended up being gigantic. Yep. Oh, about the lemonish scenes, I dunno why I put so much of these, but the whole story is not revolving around these, even if there's one at each chapter, it will only be for the first chapters.

Enjoy!

_**3. Night Spar**_

Erza stretched her sore limbs. It was no use: even after having sparred all day-long, she was restless and upset and feeling things she did not quite understand, and she was sure it was all _his_ fault. What was he thinking, saying her things like that? She did not get him. She did not get him at all.

_She had been looking for Sugarboy, when she had spotted King Mystogan in his private alley, and she hurried up the alley, finding him leaning against a pillar, clad in a dark blue dressing-gown, his bandages visible on his chest. He was using one of his old magic rods as a support. _

_He did not feel her come. He seemed more to be day-dreaming, his eyes absently sweeping upon the beautiful mountains in the horizon. She let go a breath she had unknowingly been holding. He was safe. His expression was peaceful, his skin of a healthy color. A gentle wind made his blue locks waver, and once again, she found him rather attractive._

"_You are safe," she said quietly, more for herself than for him, but he did hear her._

_Stirring out of his thoughts, Mystogan blinked, before turning around to look at her with an expression that caused her stomach to clench painfully, as his green-grayish eyes were full of peace and tenderness, their dark, warm shade enhanced by his scarlet tattoo. _

"_I am," he answered softly._

_She had let her guard down, and, bowing her head, she told him how she truly felt about the accident._

"_I am glad. I was afraid our Kingdom would lose its King again."_

"_How would that be possible?" he responded in a gentle voice. _

_She looked up at him with surprise and found herself unable to take her eyes off his intense gaze. _

"_I had trusted my life with the Champion of Edoras. How could I have lost it?" Mystogan pronounced slowly, the trust and the affection clearly showing in his soft, baritone voice._

_The shock root her on the floor, and she remained frozen, her mouth slightly opened. What was happening? Why was he opening up to her? Why did he like her, all of a sudden, when she had been so openly provoking him each time she had the occasion? How could he toss everything aside and offer her peace? Panic struck her, hard, and her heart hammered against her chest. She feared she would actually accept his offer, and handle her heart to her King, which could not, should not happen, ever, and she hurriedly declared;_

"_I do not like you. I despise you. And this…"_

_She unsheathed her sword and pressed its tip against his bandaged chest, and she felt a pang of guilt washing through her as she noticed him wince with pain._

"_...this is the proof you will never be a real King. And for this, I absolutely detest you."_

_Turning over, she left the private alley with long, hurried strides, her armor clicking. Her vision was strangely wavering, and she wiped the tears that were gathering on her eyelashes. Damn it! What was he doing to her?_

"_And for this __**fear you made me feel**__, I absolutely detest you."_

Erza groaned and bounced, shifting her lance and striking violently the soldier in front of her. With a girly yelp, the soldier fell backwards and landed on his bottom, hard. It did not calm her down. These stupid events occurred days ago, and she still felt them as if she had just walked out of the King's private alley.

"Next," announced Erza.

The group of soldiers looked at her with clear fear. The sun was already setting down, and their Grand General had made them spar all day long, pretexting they were not trained well enough. A soldier stepped forward, and tried in a hesitating voice;

"My General, if I may…"

He gulped when Erza turned over to glare at him.

"My General, we have sparred all day, and it's already dark. My comrades are exhausted. Please give us a break. We could continue tomorrow."

His comrades stepped back as Erza strode to him, hitting the floor with her lance as she looked at him from up above, a scornful smirk on her face.

"You dare discuss my orders?"

"I…I do not discuss your orders, my General!" stammered the poor soldier. "We are all willing to please you, but in this state we just can't! We need rest!"

Erza smiled, surprising the whole group, and she put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, come with me, you will help me bringing back the weapons. The rest of you are dismissed! Be sure you all are fresh and clear for tomorrow!"

"Yes, General Knightwalker!"

The group scattered, all too happy to obey their Grand General. Erza bent to pick up the weapons, throwing them to the remaining soldier.

"So, what is your name, my little friend?"

He struggled to keep all the weapons in his arms as she kept throwing him more.

"Er…Edwin Stormbringer, my General."

"Seriously? Stormbringer? That looks like a sword's name," laughed Erza, picking up the last weapons. "Follow me, _swordy_."

Edwin blushed and followed her, biting his lower lip, his eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried to keep up her pace without dropping any weapon. They soon arrived at the warehouse, and Erza rapidly disposed of the weapons.

"Here, all done. You are dismissed, swordy."

"Th-thank you, my General," he answered, bowing down to her.

He took off his helmet, revealing unruled and bright green hair, and Erza scoffed;

"Ha, why is everybody here so keen on having unusual hair color? Mah, you're lucky you don't have blue hair like King Mystogan!"

Edwin bit his lip again and did not answer, and Erza realized that it was her despising tone towards the King that had annoyed him.

"Now, now, what's with that face? Did I hurt your feelings? Feel free to tell me."

"I…I don't think the Grand General should speak like that of the King, my General. Forgive me."

"Do you like the King?"

"His Majesty has brought peace to the kingdom, my General, and I could never admire him enough for this."

"Uh-huh…come here, swordy."

She pushed him into a darker alley, the one she used when she didn't want to be seen, or just needed to be alone.

"Can you tell me more about your little comrades? Do they feel the way you feel?"

The surprise was so evident in his gaze that she curbed the urge of hitting him. Did she really have the reputation of trashing her King's name for nuts? Er…maybe she did. Maybe she really had been overboard. Maybe the people really were thinking badly of her.

"Many soldiers here are well aware that the previous King had disowned his son, my General. They do not think his Majesty as the legitimate King, and they do not approve of his choice for peace in politics. That is all I know, my General."

"I see," she murmured.

She was just beginning to understand the harm she had done by openly despising the King. She knew some people were opposed to him, but she didn't think that his own army could actually be on their side. However, that was to be expected; King Faust had accustomed his army to conquests and victories, by crashing down the guilds and the little neighboring kingdoms, precisely the ones whom King Mystogan was giving back rights. She had already heard some Generals discuss about it with anger, and herself had been furious when she had learnt that Fairy Tail had been allowed to be a legitimate Guild again.

But to think the conspiracy would use their discontent to actually try to assassinate the King! Her closed fists trembled with rage. She felt absolutely revolted. The people of Edoras did not need conquests; they needed help to reconstruct their home. The loss of magic had shaken the whole economy of Edoras, and that needed to be fixed. And even she was capable to recognize that Guilds like Fairy Tail could help and that independent little neighboring kingdoms would be for the best.

"Er…my General?"

She absently waved at him;

"Yes, yes, you are dismissed, you can go."

"No, my General, I meant…"

She looked up at him, frowning, and he hesitated again.

"I mean, my General, we all know that as the Champion of Edoras, you would do anything to save the kingdom, so I thought I had to tell you about it."

"About what?" She was intrigued.

"I don't know much, really, but some soldiers said something about a meeting that takes place in the old castle each Wednesday. I have never been there, but apparently it's a meeting that discusses our King's policies. His "flaws", as they say."

To say she was shocked was an understatement. She had been investigating for days to try and find out who had hired the assassins, only to crash against a wall of silence, whereas an average soldier like Edwin Stormbringer had learn by chance something as crucial as the existence of a meeting held by the opposition. If there were a place where she could find out more about the conspiracy, it was precisely in this kind of meetings!

"Bloody Hell!" she cried out with fury, brandishing her spear. "Why on Earth didn't you tell me sooner? Why didn't you tell any of your superiors? That's what I've been searching for since the murder attempt!"

He backed, trembling, a puppy look in his blue eyes.

"I'm sorry, my General, but we do not know who to trust. The opponents of his Majesty know how to recognize each other, but not us, who support the King. Even I, until that day, did not trust you, my General! Some people even say you were the one who hired the assassins, some others say you tried to seduce the King! I do not know what or who to believe! Forgive me, my General!"

She calmed down almost instantly. In his fear, the poor guy had fallen to his knees. She put a comforting hand on his shoulder and smiled, which was hard because she was not used to smile in a gentle way.

"Stand up. I understand your position. I was very lucky to meet you today, Edwin. It is the perfect timing! You will come with me to that meeting tonight."

"Wh-what?"

She smirked at his bewildered face.

"Yes. We are not going to lose any more time. If we have a chance to find who is part of the conspiracy, it is in this meeting. I am not going to wait for another week, so we will go tonight."

"But…forgive me, my General, but nobody has hair as scarlet as yours, you will be recognized at once!"

"Do you think people go to that kind of meeting in swimsuits? They cover themselves as well. I will cover myself and so will you. We will meet at ten at the back gate, is that clear?"

"Yes, my General. I will be there."

She left him as the bell rang for the supper. She was just on time. She swiftly climbed the stairs of the keep and entered in the hall, where the court had gathered. She sat between Hughes and Sugarboy, as always, but ignored them as her gaze swept other the hall, examining each courtier, each counselor. Who was a traitor? Who had planned the assassination? The court was like a ball, each single person here was masked; therefore, anybody could be a lie. The young counselor Cyan, who claimed to like the King and who defended him at each counsel, may actually be the head of the opposition, whereas her, who claimed to hate the King, was the one who really defended him.

"The King!"

The court stood up from their chairs, bowing in a sickly hypocrite reverence. Erza did not stand up, as her mind was whirling and she only got out of her daze when she felt the outraged eyes of the court on her. Snapping out of her thoughts, she then realized that Mystogan was looking at her, and she hastily stood up and bowed her head, her cheeks flaming with shame.

Mystogan ignored her as he passed and went to sit at the end of the table. Coco was standing close behind him, and leant in to whisper something in his ear. The King nodded, a ghost of a smile forming on his lips, and suddenly Erza felt a blazing fire spreading into her could not understand why Mystogan had chosen little Coco as his personal maid, when Coco actually had a high position in the hierarchy of King Faust's government. For God's sake, the young girl was the royal army assistant chief of staff ! Why did he keep her as a personal maid? If the girl had been older, Erza would have thought it was to sleep with her, but she knew for sure that he didn't sleep with anybody at all. So why did he keep her so close to him?

"Why aren't you eating, Erza? This food is amazing!" said Hughes, waving a chicken's leg in front of her nose.

She frowned and glared at him, and Hughes had no other choice than to bit back his tongue. Alas, it wasn't the same for Sugarboy. The man was just a total pain in the ass! He was so irritating, so full of himself, that Erza wondered why she hadn't beheaded him while she still had the occasion. And she had to fight back the urge to cut off his ridiculous banana. Seriously, this kind of haircut was not suited for a General. She would have to tell the King about it.

Well, Mystogan had already reviewed the uniform of his whole army! He had even forbidden her to "stroll around the place half-naked in that ridiculous bikini-armor", so why couldn't he do something about Sugarboy's haircut? Erza furiously rummaged in her closet, the interminable supper long forgotten. She had to find something to wear, something that would not give her away as the Grand General. She stroked in a nostalgic gesture her old armors, the one her King had forbidden her to wear. Finally, she settled for a nice outfit that covered her from head to toes. It was only cloth, but was very supple, which permitted her to fight if she needed to. She hid two daggers in her boots and covered herself with a cloak, before looking at her reflection in the mirror.

She had to do something about her hair. It was long and scarlet, the clear flag of Erza Knightwalker, and seemed to attract the light, so she swiftly braided her hair and assembled it in a bun before covering it with a head scarf.

She looked at her beloved spear, the one that had once been the terrible weapon yielding the Ten Commandments. Now it had reverted in its simplest form, but it was still very recognizable. With a slight pang of regret, Erza left her spear against her closet, and chose to keep only her sword.

She met Edwin at the back gate. Both of them were on time, and they did not waste time in speaking. The old castle was a bit far from the city itself, but was still connected to the new castle by the undergrounds, the same that Charles had shown the Earthland Fairy Tail mages. It was an easy walk for her who knew by heart these undergrounds, but they still had to be careful as they may not be the only ones to use them.

However, they managed to get to the old castle without being seen. They had already watched a few groups of soldiers gathering and heading to the meeting, and even recognized a few of them. It was crucial for them to stay hidden in the shadows. Edwin bent over a rail which gave in the old Great Hall, and called Erza;

"My Gene-mfph!"

Erza had muffled him as soon as he had opened his stupid mouth. Glaring at him, she whispered furiously;

"Don't call me like this! Do you want us dead?"

"I'm sorry, my Gene-augh!"

This time, she had elbowed him painfully in the stomach.

"Call me in another way, swordy, or I'll swear I'll cut your tongue off!"

"Sorry, Rosie," answered Edwin with a grimace.

"WHAT?" yelped Erza, furious.

Edwin looked at her with a mix of horror and fear, frantically waving at her, and then she heard someone calling them behind her back. She had spoken too loud.

"Hey, you two! What are you doing here?"

She reached for her sword, ready to bounce on the nuisance, but Edwin beat her to it, standing up into the light and calling back;

"Oh, sorry! We're late, aren't we?"

"Oh, no, it did not start yet," answered the man.

Slowly, Erza rose, carefully keeping her head down. The man continued;

"I've never seen the both or you. Are you new? People keep coming, it is great! Maybe we'll finally succeed in doing something efficient."

"Yes, we're new," answered Edwin enthusiastically. "I can't wait serving my homeland!"

"It's good to have motivated people with us! You are a soldier, I can see it. And who is this young lady?" said the man, bowing to take Erza's hand and kissing it in a perfectly perverted way, and she had to restrain from hitting him square between his legs.

"She's my sister," answered at once Edwin. "Rosie."

She cringed at the sappy name, but the man seemed delighted.

"I am honored, Miss Rosie! I am Ken, grand coordinator of the Conspiracy. I am in charge of the recruitment and the layout of our men in function of their skills. As your brother is a soldier, he will be enlisted in our Special Guard. May I have your name, by the way, young man?" he added turning to face Edwin.

The young soldier looked at Erza, unsure of what he had to tell. Erza did not hesitate; if they wanted to make Ken believe in them, they had to give him a real name, otherwise they would not be able to come back. There was no doubt Ken had sources in the castle that would confirm him the presence or not of a soldier named Edwin Stormbringer.

"Edwin Stormbringer," she answered in his place in a high-pitch voice, "he is in the Keep Guard, I'm so proud of him!"

"In the Keep Guard!" beamed Ken, delighted and patting Edwin's shoulder in a fatherly way. "That's fantastic! You will have to join the Silent Guard, my friend. Now, Eddie, Rosie, please follow me –ah! I can see some others who seem to be lost. Come with me, we'll get them."

Erza and Edwin followed him silently, Edwin keeping a grin on his face and Erza refraining from frowning. The Silent Guard, had said Ken. That word, 'Silent', meant everything: this was the assassination squad, and it was crucial that Edwin kept up his play and got enlisted in it!

Ken gathered some more traitors and finally led the little group into the Great Hall, where a crowd of traitors were happily gathering. If only she had her magic spear, thought Erza, and if that stupid Mystogan hadn't wiped out Edoras' magic, then she could have killed them all in the spot and they would have gotten rid of the problem.

Soon, they realized they would not be able to learn much. This gathering was mostly boasts, complaints, and critics over Mystogan's government, but none of this was really serious. It was to be expected, though: this was a place for recruitment, and their enemies knew there could be spies among them. So, coordinators like Ken were testing them, by discussing with them and noting personal data about them. Erza did not speak much –after all, she only was a woman, and was only here to accompany her brother, but poor Edwin had to speak and pretend and even criticize the King he admired. She could feel how much it distressed him and finally, as he had run out of ideas, he switched on none other than his General, the Champion of Edoras, Erza Knightwalker.

"You serve under Knightwalker's command?" cried out Ken, clapping with joy.

The rest of the group stared at them, and Erza for a short moment feared her make-up would not suffice to prevent them from recognizing her.

"W-well, no, not really," stammered Edwin.

He quickly regained his confidence, growing bolder under the interested gazes of the others.

"General Knightwalker trains every division, in fact. Today, she trained mine, the Keep Guard. She's a real bitch."

Erza bit her cheek to prevent herself from punching him in the guts.

"Hey," said a girl who had introduced herself as Shoon, a poison master. "Is that true that Knightwalker is Jellal's whore?"

Two things slapped the both of them in the face, hard. First, the filthy girl had called their King by his birth name, this way refusing two times his title as a King. Then, she had insulted Erza in a way she had never, ever been insulted before, as before nobody would have lived long enough to dare say that of her.

Edwin did not know how to respond, did not know what to say or what to do, and Erza acted, fast. She transformed her exploding anger into a fake mischievousness, and answered swiftly, with the shrilled, excited voice of a gossip girl.

"Oh, I heard that too! I know a maid from the castle who told me about it!"

"So, is it true?" squealed Shoon, hopping of excitement.

"I don't know, but she seemed pretty sure of it! That Erza bitch, how do you think she would be? I bet for the dominating one, our little King is such a dimwit!"

Edwin was staring at Erza open-mouthed, and she knew it must have been quite shocking to hear his General say such things with such a ninny voice. Shoon then sniggered and said in a lower voice;

"Oh, I bet she's crawling on her four-wheels, begging to be-"

"Please, Miss Shoon!" cut Ken, holding his nose (Erza did not want to know why, and she slightly felt like vomiting). "We are not here for gossips, but to save our Kingdom."

Shoon seemed disappointed. Erza silently swore she would give her a slow and painful death. Ken then turned to face her;

"Still, it would be interesting to know whether this is true or not. The people would not like to know that their so-called King would have random intercourses with his female subordinates, and we could use this at our advantage. Also, Eddie..."

"Yes?" said Edwin, regaining his composure and trying not to wince at the nickname.

"I would like you to invest and see what are the real feelings of Knightwalker. For many she seems to hate Jellal, but I wouldn't be surprised if this is just a play to get him."

"What do you mean, get him?" said a guy. "You think she wants to kill him too? She saved him a few weeks ago."

"Oooh, I understand," crooned Shoon, "you mean she's acting all bitchy to get into Jellal's pants? Well, it seemed to work. Maybe he likes to be whipped, after all!"

This time, the anger in Erza's chest exploded, and for a moment she thought she would rip Shoon's head off. She did not like Mystogan and had dominated him, but she had never considered him in such a dirty, degrading way. Just at the moment where she thought she would burst out in fury, a loud bell rang, and the crowd went silent for a few seconds before the noise started up again.

"It is time to go," announced Ken. "I will make sure to contact you again."

They wished each other a good night, Erza silently wishing them to choke to death in their slumber, and the traitors scattered.

"Gen-Rosie, what do we do now?" asked Edwin.

The poor soldier was a little pale, and Erza could not blame him. This was the most tiring meeting she ever had. Never had she wanted that much to slaughter the whole bunch of idiots surrounding her.

"Look, swordy, the coordinators are gathering on the first floor," she said.

"You're right, Rosie. Let's go home, then," answered loudly Edwin, before adding in a low voice; "Do we follow them?"

"Darn right we do! Let's get out of here first, or I'll seriously kill someone."

They managed to get on the first floor without being noticed and they looked for the coordinators. Finally, they heard the recognizable voice of Ken, and they followed that horrible sound; they seemed to have gone in another floor, but they could not be sure which one and had to verify each single one of them, all the way long having a beautiful dizzying view on the Great Hall's floor.

"It's high," murmured Edwin, even paler than before.

"Get over it," was Erza's curt answer.

"Rosie, if I may…"

"Yes?"

"About…about those rumors…we all know that the General Knightwalker is not the King's lover, is she?"

"Of course not!" snapped Erza, keeping her voice low.

"So, what about those rumors? I thought they were the ones who started them, and in fact they don't even know if it's true or not!"

"So what if I slept with the King?" answered Erza, glaring at him.

Edwin flinched and blinked.

"You did?"

"That's none of your business, Stormbringer! And it is not the right time to speak of these stupidities!"

"But, my General, if you have slept with the King without being his official lover, it is indeed a problem, it will cause prejudice to him! You may not care, it may not affect you, but he has a reputation to keep, if not how would his people believe in him?"

"Oh, come on, he's the savior of the World, he got down Lord Dragneel and all that shit, the people love him!"

"That was one year ago, my General. The people have forgotten. It is in their nature to be ungrateful."

"Shush!"

She had frozen, and Edwin stopped at once. They could still hear the voices of the coordinators, but also another noise that looked suspiciously like a patrol.

"Damn it, I hadn't thought about that!" growled Erza. "We have to leave before they spot us!"

"Yes, my General!"

They took their leave in the fastest and quietest way possible, and engaged in a dark passageway. They could hear more and more steps, and Erza cursed herself for not having thought that they could very well search the area for remaining spies.

"Ah, this leads back to the undergrounds, follow me, we'll be safe here," she called, sighing of relief.

Edwin followed her, his trust so evident that she felt proud of herself and overwhelmed by her power. But suddenly, she stopped.

Step, step, step.

"Someone's coming! From the other passageway, at our left! What do we do, Rosie?" whispered hastily Edwin, calling her Rosie in his panic, and Erza felt annoyed by the dopey name.

Silently, she reached for her sword, but quickly decided against it; the sound of metal would without any doubt attract all the patrols here. She had to fight the man bare-handed.

The steps had stopped. Surely he had heard them, and was now waiting for them to arrive at the crossroad. The best way to defend themselves was now to attack the fastest possible. Erza suddenly speeded up the corridor, leaving a surprised Edwin behind her, turning to her left at the crossroad and bouncing in the air, her kick aimed at the shadows where she knew the intruder would be.

He was there, all clad in a long cloak, scarf, and protection headband, and he instantly blocked her attack with his left arm, swiftly aiming for her stomach with his right hand. Erza jumped back before rushing over him, but to her dismay, she could not lend any hit on him; he was blocking every single blow, and managed to hit her a few times. Edwin stood behind her, unsure of what to do as he had not been trained with martial arts. Erza was beginning to lose her confidence, beginning to doubt she would ever get him, when she suddenly saw an opening. How wrong was she! He seized her by her attacking arm and span over himself, giving her a hard, violent backwards kick in her stomach, sending her across the corridor and slamming against the wall.

"My General!" called Edwin, horrified, rushing towards her.

The man froze, but they did not notice it. Edwin was too busy patting her back, trying to make her breathe. As soon as Erza had regained her breath, she growled with fury, unsheathing her sword, and rushed over her opponent, who was watching her intensely.

She stroke with all her strength, but he swiftly reached for the rod in his back to block her sword. Furiously, she attacked him, making him step back from the fierce of her attacks; but he kept parrying, and managed to push her back with another kick in her stomach, a kick strangely considerably less violent than the first one.

Having only stumbled a little, Erza prepared herself to rush over him again, but as she glared at him, a sudden image flashed by her mind, stopping her dead into her tracks.

_He extended his left arm, stopping Scarlet, and addressed her, staring at her with a serious and unforgiving gaze, his light blue locks wavering in the wind, his dark blue cloak floating around him. He dominated her, standing on his summoned bird of prey, a magic rod shining in his right hand. _

"_Do you intend to point your blade at me, the prince of Edoras ? Erza Knightwalker."_

She stopped dead in her tracks, her sword still raised.

"Your…Your Highness? Is that you?"

"About time you recognize me, General Knightwalker," answered Mystogan's deep voice, slightly muffled by his scarf.

Behind her, Erza heard Edwin gasp and fall to his knees. But she could only think of one thing.

"Are you insane?" she cried out, throwing her sword on the floor and seizing him by his shoulders, shaking him like a pomegranate tree. "What on heck are you doing here, my King? They could have found you! I could even have killed you!"

"I doubt so. You didn't even manage to hit me once," answered mockingly Mystogan.

"Even so! You should not be wandering in your enemies' place by your own! For God's sake, you are the King! You should not put yourself into such dangerous situations!"

"Your Highness, my General, forgive me, but we should hurry and leave," cut in Edwin.

"He's right; keep your banter for later, General Knightwalker. We could get caught."

They sped up in the undergrounds and arrived directly into the gardens, right next to his private alley. So that was how he had gotten out of the castle without being noticed. Erza dismissed Edwin and accompanied her King into the Keep. They parted in front of his chambers' main door. But as she was bowing to salute her King and make her leave, she noticed his slight wince as he reached for the doorknob. Surely, with their spar, had he hurt his cicatrizing wounds.

"Are you sure you will be okay, Your Highness? Do you want me to escort you back to your chambers?" she asked.

"Don't bother, I am fine. Coco is waiting for me, anyway," he answered curtly.

Something snapped in Erza's mind. _Coco _was waiting for him, the little _Coco_ he seemed to have so much faith in that he had made her his private maid. Why did she wait him for? A good fuck after his night walk? A girl like her! Her hand snatched at his wrist, preventing him of opening the door.

"I insist."

He looked at her, surprised. His mask covered half of his face, so she could only see the slight widening of his eyes.

"Do I look like I'm going to faint at any moment, General Knightwalker? I am perfectly fine, thank you."

"Why is Coco waiting for you at this hour, in your chambers, if not for your health, my King?" she spat accusingly.

Amusement filled his stare, and she felt the jealousy and the anger boil with a growing force.

"I wonder why, maybe she's worried about me. After all, she doesn't despise me, neither does she detest me. Well, maybe she likes her King…"

"As if! She doesn't need to like you to get into your pants!"

"This is a very bad mouth, General Knigthwalker. I never said Miss Coco had such relations with me. Not to mention she's far too young! It is really amusing how you make everything sound dirty and nasty. Couldn't it just occur to you some people might actually like their King?"

Before she had the chance to answer, the door opened, reveling a restless Coco.

"Your Highness! Finally you are back!"

"Let's get in, shall we?" said Mystogan, inviting Erza in. "I think you need to learn more about Miss Coco, General Knightwalker."

They sat at his table and Coco served them some tea. Sighing, finally showing how weary he was after this long mission, Mystogan took off his scarf and headband and unclasped his dark blue cloak, letting it fall on the back of his chair. Erza swiftly took off her bandana and undid her bun, freeing her long, scarlet hair.

"So," asked Coco, "how did it go, your Highness? And why did you come back with General Knightwalker?"

Mystogan stretched his legs and yawned.

"Well, it seems General Knightwalker and I had the same idea, so we met at the meeting. Totally by chance, would you believe that?"

Coco giggled. Irritated, Erza cut in;

"How did you know I was there as a spy? I could have been as a traitor."

He gave her a little smile which just made her want to hit him. She did not like the softness of his expression when he smiled, as it made her defenses crumble.

"Sure. But I know you weren't. Traitor and Knightwalker just do not fit together, am I wrong?"

She did not know what to respond. Mystogan turned to his personal maid and continued in a smooth tone;

"I got a few names, but I'm not sure. You will have to search, Coco. I'll give you the names tomorrow."

"Yes, Your Highness," nodded obediently Coco with a happy smile.

And then, Erza understood why he had chosen her as his personal maid. It was simply because Coco was the best informer ever! She had considerable means to get information, and by being his personal maid shut down all suspicions. Coco was the one who had found out about the meeting, and Coco was the one who would be searching for information about the names Mystogan had collected.

Mystogan turned over.

"By the way, General Knightwalker, did your soldier give his real name?"

"Uh? Oh, yes, he did. I wanted him to integrate the system, and I knew they would do research on him, so we gave his real name. It's Edwin Stormbringer, so please don't arrest him as a traitor!" she added jokingly, but Mystogan remained deadly serious.

"What about you? I doubt you went in there claiming to be the Champion of Edoras."

"No, but I claimed to be a bitch and called you a dimwit."

He blinked.

"Well, thank you."

"You're welcome."

She finished her tea and added, dropping her cynic tone.

"I was introduced as the sister of Edwin."

"Whose name is?"

"Rosie," grimaced Erza.

She could have sworn Mystogan hid his mouth to muffle a burst of laughter, but she chose to ignore it. Dryly coughing into his hand, Mystogan turned to Coco, who was collecting the dishes.

"Coco, make sure that by tomorrow Miss Rosie Stormbringer exists."

"Yes, Your Highness. I'll take my leave then."

"Yes, good night Coco."

"Good night, Your Highness", she crooned, shooting a suspicious glance to Erza, and she bowed to salute them before leaving the room.

Mystogan stood up and reached for his bedroom door, letting Erza standing alone in the living-room, feeling awkward and dejected.

"Good night, General Knightwalker," he said curtly, nodding at her.

But at this moment, Erza could not let him go, not when he had beaten her in a spar; she had to win, she had to! And that had nothing to do with the fact she wanted him, no, not at all. And what was she thinking? She did not want him, did not find him attractive at all!

She suddenly stepped forward and gripped his shirt, crashing her lips against his, making him gasp of surprise. She kissed him, hard, fast. Then she stepped back, a smug smile on her lips.

"Good night, your Highness. Sweat dreams."

But she did not get the occasion to leave. He seized her by her wrist and pulled her into his bedroom, the door slamming behind him.

"You are not going to get away with this, Erza."

He pressed her, hard, against the wall, making her feel the hardness of his chest and of his desire. And he held both her hands up her head, effectively trapping her. She did not dare to move as he leant in and bowed his head to kiss her. He was letting burning trails of kisses all the way down her neck, and he released her wrists to unzip her outfit and free her bust, then her waist, her hips, her legs, and she had to step out of the clothes as he undressed her whole body. As he went to kiss her again, and fondle her rear, making her moan, she raised shaking hands to undress him as well, but only had the occasion to unbutton his shirt. He was suckling on her sensitive flesh, leaving hickeys all the way down her neck, and she swore she would get back at him for this. All her power, all her will had been drained out and she could only desperately hold on his shoulders as he kissed her breasts. One hand held her trembling body, the other stroke her thighs, and her walls went tumbling down. No more armors around her heart, and she was utterly afraid of herself when she melted into his embrace.

Then he left her, slumped against the wall, panting and shivering, only to undress himself. He pulled her back in his arms and kissed her, making her walk backwards until she felt the wooden edge of his bed against her legs. One last hot kiss on her mouth, and he pushed her on the bed, pausing to look at her naked body.

Erza knew she was beautiful. It was the last thing she could hold on, and she gathered as much strength as she could to rebuild her armor, even if she was afraid. She did not want him to reach through her, to touch her heart and soul.

The moon was softly lighting the room, and making Mystogan really handsome. His eyes were burning with passion, his breath swift and uneven. His tattoo, on the darker side of his face, made her fingers itch to touch it, to caress it. Her womanhood was still burning from before, and she felt herself wanting him so badly that she finally surrendered, opening her legs for him.

"It is only sex," she thought to reassure herself.

He roughly held her by her rear and entered her, the sudden action making her cringe of slight pain. She had to say something, to break down this horrible warmth that spread through her heart. She then noticed his flushed cheeks and mocked;

"You're blushing."

As a response he thrust into her, and she gasped and raised her hands to hold on his shoulders, as if she would drown into the pleasure he gave her. She wrapped her legs around his waist, bringing him closer, his heat invading her body.

He had won.

_**To be continued...**_

_**And...reviews, please! ;)**_


	4. Lovers

_**King Mystogan**_

First of all, I would like to all thank you for your reviews! So many reviews! I was so happy! Thank you, you people are amazing, I love you!

Now that this is said, I wish you all a happy new year (OK, it's a bit late!).

And now, I would like to say sorry for the delay. I know I made you all wait a lot, I'm very sorry. I already know the whole story with the ending and everything, but I had some difficulties in writing because seriously, I felt like shit and I was really, really depressed. So that's why your reviews made me really happy. Please keep reviewing! :)

Now, about Fairy Tail itself...

**Disclaimer: **Do. Not. Own. Oh, and is it me or Gajeel with messy hair is just damn HOT? Him and Levy are just perfect together! And I was so happy to see Jellal in the anime! Just a bit disappointed because he had a voice slightly less deeper than usually (yeah, because deep voice=emo or evil, and normal voice=hero or good, and Jellal just switched into the 'good' category). And why the Hell did they put him a shirt on when he was in his coffin? Oh, and I don't even want to speak about Erigor. This idiot shouldn't have been here in the first place. Anyway, I loved Jellal's speach to Erza, especially in the end when he ends up whispering (such a beautiful voice!).

Ok, never mind. I wanted to say something about my fic, because there's a little mistake in the third chapter. Yeah, while speaking of Sugarboy's haircut, I used the word "banana". That's because in my birth language, that's how we do call quiffs. Then it gave me an idea for this chapter, because, well, as said **wolfteam000**, 'banana' can evocate something else as well. And so I couldn't help making a stupid joke about it in this chapter…the problem is, that this haircut is called quiff, and not banana…but well, if I change it, Mystogan's joke doesn't make any sense…so be it. I'll leave it this way…and yes, it's Mystogan and not Erza, who makes the joke!

Now, on with the fourth chapter! And hugs to everybody. For those I usually send PM, please bear with me a little more, when I'll feel better I'll reply to you. For now, I send you loads of hugs and this chapter I hope you will like!

_**4. Lovers**_

He did not want to get up. He kept his eyes closed, even if he was wide-awake. He did not want to speak to her, and he knew she had to go and train her soldiers –maybe they were even already waiting for her in the yard. Surely she would get up soon, dress up and leave, and they would never speak of this again.

_He wanted her; her beautiful, full body, her burning eyes, her warm mouth against his. As he pushed her on his bed, he paused for an instant to take in her naked body. Erza looked up at him smugly, fully aware of her beauty, and opened her legs, inviting him in. He roughly held her by her rear and entered her, biting back a cry of pleasure as her heat spread onto him, into his stomach and all the way up his chest and heart._

"_You're blushing," she said mockingly._

_Mystogan felt his cheeks burning even more, and he pushed deeper into her, making her gasp softly. She raised her arms and gently reached for his shoulders, bringing him closer, and he felt his control snap when he felt her wrap her legs around his waist. _

_He wanted her; she had to be his, entirely his. And he tried hard to mark her as his, kissing her and caressing her, making her tremble and moan. He was on top, but he had lost control. He was on top, but he was the one who cried out her name, while she just let out a sharp breath, her nails digging into his shoulder blades. _

_He panted, carefully leaning on her, his forehead against her chest, before slowly withdrawing from her. She looked as tired as him, and was already closing her eyes, her arms sliding down his shoulders to his waist. Relishing her embrace he looked up at her, kissing her on the mouth, making her look at him between heavy eyelashes._

"_Be my lover."_

_She blinked, as if not registering his words. Then she kissed him, sleepily;_

"_Let's talk about this tomorrow, shall we? When your mind will be fresh and clear."_

_He sighed and buried his face in her neck, closing his eyes and allowing his exhaustion to drift him off to sleep. He vaguely registered that he could feel under his hand her heart thumping swiftly, that he could smell her delicious, womanly scent, and that her arms were still wrapped around his waist, her legs around his, her cheek against his temple. _

_At this moment, they were one. _

It was a mistake. He could not ask her to be his lover when she didn't even love him. He had to find another way to break through her armor, for even when they made love, she did not loosen her defenses.

He felt her stir against his back, then start and sit up with a horrified cry;

"Shit! What am I doing here?"

Great. He closed his eyes tighter. He did not want to speak to her. Every time he did, they only ended up arguing. If only she had accepted his offer last night, when she had seemed so close…

He shivered and almost gasped when he felt her fingers gently caress his neck and his nape, curling into his hair, and he felt her lean against him, her breath on his temple, and then her mouth on his cheekbone, kissing him softly.

"You are blushing", she whispered. "Quit pretending you're asleep, Your Highness."

Her fingers stroke their way down his chest, passing over his bandages, and she pressed her mouth against his neck, kissing him harder, gently sucking on his sensitive skin. And suddenly he realized she was marking him, and his eyes snapped open.

"Stop that!"

She chuckled and sat up, before hopping out of the bed.

"I knew you weren't sleeping."

Mystogan stood up to study himself in the mirror, and he gritted his teeth: on his neck was a beautiful, red hickey, so visible there was no way the whole castle wouldn't guess about last night!

"Nice ass," crooned Erza from behind him.

She was a total pain in the neck! Blushing even harder, Mystogan seized his dressing-gown and put it on, swiftly tying the cord around his waist before glancing up at the mirror: he could see his own cheeks of a very much red color, and behind him, a few meters away, Erza who was dressing up with a complete lack of shame. He inhaled deeply, hoping that his flushed cheeks would revert back to normal. But he didn't have this chance.

"I'm leaving, your Grumpiness," announced Erza.

_Wh-what? _She was the one who made him grumpy! He turned over, anger gathering in his chest.

"You are not to disrespect your King, Erza Knightwalker!"

"My…why aren't you calling me _General _Knightwalker for once?" she mocked him.

He felt lost, he was losing his balance, and he recalled with horror that last night he had cried out her name. He bit his inside cheeks and replied;

"The fact that you are in my bedroom right now does not come under your status of General, therefore I will not call you as General Knightwalker."

He was satisfied with his answer, and felt as if he had regained some of his dignity. But Erza burst out laughing.

"Ha! Well, I am relieved to learn it is not part of a General's duty to sleep with you, my King. I really could not picture you with Hughes or Sugarboy!"

At first Mystogan felt mortified, and the color drained out of his face, effectively shutting down his blush. But then he realized she was laughing, really laughing, and not trying to get under his skin. And the sudden image of Sugarboy naked crossed his mind –yes, he had already seen him naked, for there was a time he went to the public bath of the castle for the first and the last time-, and he felt something rolling up his throat –a laugh. He pressed his hand against his mouth to muffle it, replying dryly;

"That was disgusting, Erza Knightwalker."

"I have to agree with that. Hughes can be cute, but I'd rather kill myself than sleep with Sugarboy."

She smiled at him and bowed her head.

"Now, if you will excuse me, my King, I'll take my leave. My soldiers are waiting for me, I am training them today."

He had to call her back. They had not solved the complicated problem of their missed up relationship! But she beat him again, stopping at the moment he opened his mouth to call her back;

"Oh! About Sugarboy!"

He frowned.

"What about him?"

"Can't you forbid him to wear this ridiculous haircut? This big, sagging banana is infuriating!"

The answer left his lips before he had the chance to stop himself. But how could he blame himself, when she had put in his mind the image of Sugarboy naked?

"I cannot. It would castrate him."

For a whole minute, Erza just stared at him, eyes-wide, mouth agape. And that was the perfect opportunity to walk on her, trap her in his arms, pressing her hard against the door and kiss her, rushing his tongue into her open mouth. Her hands gripped his dressing-gown as he explored her, and she tried to push out his invading tongue with her own –but they just ended kissing passionately until they had no more oxygen, and they had to break up to breath.

"Erza, will you be my lover?"

She was still panting, and her fingers loosened her grip on his dressing-gown. She stared at the floor and finally, answered in a trembling voice;

"Yes. If that's what you wish, my King, yes. I will. Gladly. Just…"

And she laughed again, real happiness swarming from her eyes and her smile;

"Just don't speak of Sugarboy again, never, ever! You're giving me dreadful mental images of him, seriously!"

He nuzzled her neck, his tight hold on her slowly converting into a gentle embrace. She shivered as he began to place butterfly kisses on the soft skin of her neck. With this simple "yes" word, she had appeased him, and the only thing he craved for at this moment was her soft, warm presence. He wanted to keep her close to him, to feel her breath and soul under his lips; she was opening up to him, he almost could reach for her heart.

But Erza wouldn't handle it to him yet. She firmly pushed him away.

"I have to go now."

"I'll see you at the meeting, then," he answered softly, concealing his deception behind a blank face.

Erza zipped her collar up to her chin to hide the marks he had left on her the last night, and with a proud, dynamic gait strode to the door, and he felt his heart leapt when her low content hum reached his ears.

"Oh," she suddenly said, stopping dead in her tracks before swiftly turning to face him, her scarlet hair whipping the air. "I have a condition, though."

"A condition?" repeated Mystogan, stirring from his almost reverie.

She bored her brown eyes in his.

"Yes. I want to wear my old armors. Not these heavy things that make me feel like a sardine."

He blinked, and it took him a while to understand what she was speaking of.

"Oh," he finally said. "I can't allow you to do that, Erza."

"Why not? Are you such a jealous man that you want to keep my whole body to yourself?" she mocked.

He felt his cheeks burn up and inwardly cursed himself for this. He tried to contain his embarrassment by frowning, but apparently she found it rather comical as she openly smirked at him, her eyes sparkling mischievously.

"My reasons are not selfish, _General_ Knightwalker," he answered curtly. "This is a world without magic. It is very easy to get killed. Your magic isn't here to cover you. Do you think I would have been shot down by mere arrows if I still had my magic? I cannot allow you to go uncovered. As sharp as your instincts are, they do not replace magic. You are dismissed."

Erza frowned and glared at him, obviously displeased by his response.

"Fine, Your Grumpiness, I leave. Oh, and don't forget to wear a scarf for the meeting."

As she closed the door behind her, he hurriedly turned to have a look at himself in the mirror, anxious. What did she mean? Oh…right…that damn _hickey_. Curse her !

And…how did they end up arguing again?

With a growl, Mystogan sat on his bed, holding his head with both hands, trying to hold back a massive headache. But then, the door flew open, making him start and gasp with surprise, and Coco barged into the room like an overactive puppy.

"YOUR HIGHNESS! Good morning, Your Highness! Coco brought you your breakfast! Do you want it in bed or in the living-room?"

Mystogan put a hand on his pounding heart.

"Coco, please calm down! I swear, you're going to kill me some time!"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness!" she chirped, and he knew she was not sorry at all –in fact the girl enjoyed teasing him in an even more annoying way than Erza- "I'll put your breakfast on the table, then."

She left the bedroom, singing childish songs in her usual high-pitched piping. Mystogan allowed himself five minutes of calm, closing his eyes and breathing deeply, shutting out all disturbing thoughts off his mind. He reorganized his thoughts and reviewed all the matters he had to deal with for the day. When he was done, he stood up and went into his bathroom to take a short shower, grimacing as the warm water made his cicatrizing wounds burn. Stepping out of the shower about ten minutes later, he almost slipped on the wet floor at the sight of Coco waiting for him with a big smile on her face, a big red fluffy towel in her hands, and he was thankful for the abundance of steam which hid his body.

"Coco! You little-"

"Here you are Your Highness!" cut the little girl, throwing the towel around his waist. She seized his wrist and pulled him to the stool she had placed in front of the sink. "Coco will take care of your wounds!"

"Coco, I'm okay. I don't need to…and where's my towel?"

She grinned, forcing him to sit down on the stool.

"This is your towel, Your Highness. Now don't move," she added with the happy smile of a girl playing doctors with her favorite doll –and maybe she was after all playing doctors, just why did she have to play it with him?

He winced as she pressed the damp cotton against his chest, the alcohol burning his flesh.

"My towel has always been blue, Coco."

"Really? I thought red would suit you better," crooned Coco.

She bandaged him carefully, sticking out her tongue in her concentration. Mystogan wondered if she would have chosen a pink towel if by a sad fate Erza would have had pink hair. Picturing Erza with pink hair was actually quite amusing, and he had to stop the chuckle from leaving his throat. Coco stood up and clapped in her hands;

"Perfect! Have you seen, Your Highness? Coco is a good nurse!"

He smiled to her. After all, it was the first time she did help him for this. Until yesterday, it was still these annoying doctors and their even more annoying maids that came to attend him.

"Thank you, Coco. You did a good job."

"Yes, didn't I! Wait for me, I'm coming right back!"

She ran out of the bathroom and barged in a few seconds later, his clothes in her petite arms.

"Here are your clothes, Your Highness!"

He blinked.

"Coco, you really are a kind little girl, but I can dress up myself. And I would appreciate that next time I take a shower, you don't come in before I ask you so."

"But Coco wants to help you!" she replied stubbornly, taking his arm and stuffing it in the awaiting sleeve of his shirt.

He sighed. He would let her have her way for once. She seemed so happy that he hadn't the heart to stop her. She was humming joyfully, and made sure he was dressed impeccably. She even insisted in combing his hair, and Mystogan seriously began to wonder if she had all her mind.

"Coco, is there something special today?"

"Oh, no, not at all!" she laughed at loud. "But Your Highness should be gorgeous at all times! Ha, here you are!" she concluded, adjusting his collar.

Mystogan shot a glance to the mirror, and the first thing he saw was, of course, the hickey Erza had given him this morning. He stood up hastily, frowning, and put his hand over his neck.

"Coco, can you find me a suitable scarf, please?"

"Why?" she asked innocently, the mischief clearly showing in her eyes.

The girl obviously had seen the _thing_ and what's more, knew who had made it. Apparently, she had decided that the whole castle just HAD to see it as well.

"Because," replied dryly Mystogan.

She pouted and left the bathroom, before coming back with a white scarf. She handled it to him, her expression sullen. Mystogan swiftly wrapped it around his neck, carefully watching his reflection in the mirror.

"If I may," said Coco, her voice solemn, "I do not think it wise to try and hide your relation with Erza, Your Highness. You are the King, you should be aware you will never have a private life. If you try avoiding that, people will be even more willing to stick their nose into your business."

He eyed her, knowing she was now ready to speak of more serious matters.

"I'll think about it. Now, what about Rosie Stormbringer?"

"Her certificate of birth has been destroyed during the war against Lord Dragneel, but she has now official papers. I already gave them to General Knightwalker, I met her in your living-room this morning."

He smiled. Coco was very efficient and had not lost time in creating a new citizen perfectly in order. He sat at his table, and took a piece of bread. Coco watched him.

"About the names, Coco," he added after swallowing, "I only have three. I would like you to investigate on them the most discreetly possible, two of them are in the Council."

"In the Council?" frowned Coco.

"Yes. One is Duke Everlue, supposedly providing weapons."

"Duke Everlue," repeated Coco, nodding.

"The second is the son of a rich merchant, Cyan Tumbleweed."

"Oh, counselor Cyan?" exclaimed Coco, "I cannot believe that! He admires you the most, and defends you at every meeting!"

"You never know, Coco. Please investigate on him."

"Yes, Your Highness," bowed Coco, saddened by the thought. "And who is the last one?"

"He is not part of the Council. He's named Midnight. I am afraid it might be a code name."

"It might be, yes," agreed Coco. "I will try my best, Your Highness."

She left him while he made his way to his study. It was a very tiring morning; Mystogan was still making most of the work his counselors should have been doing. But he did not trust them enough yet to give them more power than they already had.

Counselor Ur was one of the few who had his trust, and who worked on her own, only coming in his study to present him her work before announcing it to the council on the next meeting. Never had Mystogan criticized her work nor did he refuse to apply her new measures, as she thought exactly the way he did, and made the reforms he had in mind.

Mystogan stopped his work for a moment, feeling his headache coming back with a new force. Reading all these reports, records, and text laws was very tiring, not to say mind-killing. His eyes closed, he waited for the pain to withdraw. Then, the door opened and he opened his eyes with a sigh.

"Your Highness, counselor Ur is here," announced the soldier guarding his door, bowing respectfully.

"Let her in."

Ur entered, a big smile on her face. Next to her was her beloved daughter, Ultear, holding in her arms a pile of paperwork. Mother and daughter were both dressed in a modern way, with shirts and pants. Ur's hair was cut short, almost like a man, whereas Ultear's was long and kept in her back by a hairband, bangs sticking out on her forehead.

"Good morning, Your Highness," greeted the two women, bowing their head.

"Good morning, Counselor Ur, Miss Ultear."

"It is almost time for the meeting, so I came to show you the fruit of my labor," smiled Ur.

Mystogan pushed aside his own papers and invited her to take place facing him.

"Please take a sit."

Ur sat on the chair while Ultear kept standing next to her. The young girl carefully laid the pile on the desk and watched as her mother took sheet by sheet, explaining them to their King.

Mystogan felt his headache miraculously subside. Ur had a way of explaining things which made it crystal clear, and it was really refreshing to hear someone speaking the same ideas than his own. He nodded to everything she said and when she was done, gave her his consent. Ur smiled, the satisfaction of being rewarded for her hard work clearly painted on her kind features.

"Thank you, Your Highness. Now it is almost time for the meeting, shall we go?"

"Yes, just wait a minute, I am coming with you."

Mystogan stood up, reaching for his own paperwork, and called for a maid to come and pick it up. He was relieved to see Coco barging in, as he did not like other maids to look at it.

Coco and Ultear silently followed their King and the counselor Ur.

"Your Highness, I heard this morning General Reitei wanted to rise up the case of the Raijinshuu."

"The Raijinshuu?" repeated Mystogan, frowning. "Does he want them to get out of prison again?"

"Most certainly, yes. The General Reitei has got family in Fairy Tail, so it is only natural he would speak in their name."

"I am not sure that freeing the Raijinshuu is a good idea," sighed Mystogan. "I respect the Fairy Tail guild, but the Raijinshuu is another matter. Laxus has not forgotten how his grandfather, the master of the guild, was killed by our previous Grand General."

"The Raijinshuu took him down before the Fairy Hunter captured them, their vengeance has been completed. Surely they can reach to an agreement with you, Your Highness."

"If we free them, Laxus will take the lead of the guild. He isn't a wise a person. I would not bet on an easy agreement."

"Prison changes people, Your Highness. In bad ways as well as in good ways, or so I hope."

Mystogan nodded and their conversation stopped there as they passed the doors of the meeting room. The counselors immediately stood up to bow with a sickly false respect for their King. Mystogan sat down, and the chairman of the Council facing him at the end of the table gave the signal for them to sit. After the usual greetings, the meeting was opened, and Mystogan was careful not to look at Erza, who would undoubtedly distract him from his thoughts.

As usual, Ur encountered a lot of criticisms from the other counselors. Counselor Cyan was one of the few counselors who defended her, but that was to be expected. Mystogan watched silently as she exposed with an unfailing calm her work, while being cut at any moment by the others, mainly led by the chairman of the Council. The Generals weren't kind either: the Grand General of the Internal Guard, Rahal, was as always particularly critical.

Mystogan knew a few faces and names from Earthland. First, the chairman, Guran Doma, who was also the chairman of the Earthland wizard council. Then, the counselors Kageyama, Bora, Everlue, Vidaldus, Sherry, and of course Ur. Whithin the generals, he knew Rahal, Lyon Reitei, Erigor, Totomaru, and of course Erza. The others were unknown faces and names, but Mystogan didn't know which was best.

Knowing the counterparts of these people wasn't always helping; it could even be dangerous. Even if the soul deep down remained the same, the character of the person could drastically change: he just had to have a look to Edoras' Fairy Tail to understand it. The person could end up being the complete opposite of what they were in Earthland, and that was very tricky. Mystogan felt inclined to trust some people who could easily be traitors, as well as he could distrust others who could be loyal. It was a very delicate matter, and he was still struggling with it.

"I would like to speak now of a request from the guild Fairy Tail," said Lyon, stirring Mystogan from his short absence.

"Again Fairy Tail!" exclaimed a counselor. "For God's sake, the whole world seems to be revolving around them!"

"Silence!" snapped Mystogan. "You may speak, General Reitei."

"Thank you, your Highness. Fairy Tail is currently without any leader, and they are asking if their Master's heir could be released, as well as his personal guard, the Raijinshuu."

From the corner of his eye Mystogan saw Erza stand up and bang her armored fist on the table, her eyes throwing daggers at Lyon, who flinched under her hard glare.

"Release the Raijinshuu! Are you out of your mind, General Reitei? Making Fairy Tail official is one thing, but freeing criminals like the Raijinshuu is another! These four people have killed the previous Grand General, have you forgotten it?"

"They only fought back because the Grand General had killed their Master! That's the power of…love!" answered Lyon, raising his hands to the ceiling in a romance-fashion way as he declaimed the last words.

Next to him, the ice-lady Sherry sighed, ignoring this love-thing that was without any doubt aimed at her.

"Their Master was at that moment an outlaw! Whatever their motives were, they remain criminals! They are dangerous people who should not be freed like this! Not to mention Laxus, whom we already know the brutality, Bixlow is a sick-minded wizard who played with souls, and the four of them used forbidden magic objects!"

"General Knightwalker, please sit down and discuss with calm," said Mystogan softly.

Erza gritted her teeth and glared at him with such hateful eyes that he actually wondered if last night had been a dream. But happily, the chairman rang the bell and stood up.

"Your Highness, my Generals, Counselors, it is time. The meeting is over. General Reitei, your proposition will be reconsidered next time."

The counselors rapidly scattered and Mystogan sighed, looking at his pile of documents he had wanted to expose. As always, the Chairman had managed to keep the whole discussion focused on details and on harsh critics so Ur would be slowed down until there was no more time left to discuss anything else. Well, he should just go back to his office and polish his work, so that they wouldn't have anything to object –but he highly doubt they wouldn't object.

This was bound to be a very boring and tiring afternoon, but it turned out to be otherwise. In the evening, a young guard he recognized as Edwin Stormbringer, the soldier who had accompanied Erza, had entered his office and bowed, announcing him that a messenger from the Southern harbor citadel, Gardamonde, had asked for an audience. Mystogan's heart had leapt with joy, for this was the land that was under the care of his cousin, Simon, who held the precious name of his mother –Gardamonde. The young duke was also known under the nickname of The Corsair Prince, as he was the one who had protected Edoras' seas and harbors.

"Let him enter," Mystogan said, trying not to look too eager.

Edwin bowed again, and stepped back into the corridor to call the messenger;

"Sir Shou, the King awaits you. Please give me your saber before entering."

A young man entered, his looks and clothes clashing with those of the palace; he had dark skin with blonde spiky hair, a snaky tattoo on his left jaw and an earring on his left ear – sign that as a sailor, he had crossed the Marvell Cape, which separated the known world from the unexplored. He wore white straight pants from the marine uniform and a long maroon oriental coat, held at his waist by a large belt which certainly was used to strap his saber.

Shou's green eyes scanned Mystogan with defiance, before he bowed to salute him.

"Please stand up," hastily said Mystogan. "You have a message from Duke Simon?"

"Yes, Your Highness," answered Shou, bowing again. "My Lord has entrusted me with an oral message."

Standing up, he looked at Mystogan in the eye.

"My Lord, Duke Simon of Gardamonde, announces to Your Majesty that his ship, the Bakeneko, will be arriving in the capital harbor in a couple of days, where it will be decking for a few weeks. He is coming back from his expedition against the pirates, and decided to stop by to present his King his respects. Counting that he will need a whole day to ride from the capital harbor to the Capital itself, he will be there in three days, maybe four."

Mystogan could have grinned. There was no word to describe the feeling of happiness he felt. He and Simon were the same age. He had met him when he had been sent to his uncle's castle at Gardamonde, after the accident that had killed his mother and almost cost him his own life. Pantherlily, his savior, had been entrusted with the Prince's safety, and became his godfather, responsible of his training as a knight.

The Prince had been educated with his cousin until they were ten, the both of them squires. Then they had been sent to the Capital to directly serve the King, and, for the young Prince, to learn how to rule a kingdom. That was the time they both met Erza Knightwalker for the first time; she was a squire as well, but they did not see her often, for they were princes whereas she was from a very modest noble family.

These two years were, with the period following his mother's death, the worst years of his life. He truly hated his father and despised the way Faust ruled his kingdom. He had a very conflicted relationship with his father, and it did not help that the old Byro actually hated him and spoke behind his back to Faust, fanning the flames of their dispute. Without Pantherlily and his cousin, Mystogan doubted he would have stood it all.

Finally, he got twelve and left for Earthland, decided to wipe off any anima that would dare appear. Simon did not follow him there; they had gotten into an argument and they had parted without even saying good-bye to each other. It was a very childish thing to do, and Mystogan felt a little bit nervous to meet his cousin again, but he knew that Simon would never hold grudges against him for such a trivial thing.

During the seven years Mystogan spent on Earthland learning to be a powerful mage, Simon was dubbed knight, and after his father's death, was named Duke of Gardamonde.

At the time Mystogan was crowned King of Edoras, Simon was still fighting in the southern seas on his famous ship, the Bakeneko. For a whole year, Simon had been wandering through the seas, determined to wipe off a very dangerous and notorious pirate who used to pillage all the coast of Edoras, even from times to times sailing up the river to loot the capital harbor itself. The news of Simon's victory against the pirates had been spread a month ago, and since then Mystogan had been waiting for Simon to finally come back.

When the night came, Mystogan was dizzy with happiness, and he asked Coco to call Erza for him. He was, for the first time since a long time, feeling confident and fortunate, and he wanted to share his joy with someone close to him. Since Erza knew Simon as well, she was the most indicated person –and she was supposed to be his lover as well.

But Erza wasn't really the kind of person who liked to be called for no apparent reason. She came fully armored, her spear in her hand, and a big frown on her face. Mystogan dismissed Coco and invited Erza in.

"What a lovely night, isn't it, Erza? Please sit with me."

Erza frowned even more at the simple "Erza", and she answered curtly;

"Why did you call me, King Mystogan?"

He should have noticed the difference in her tone and in the way she had addressed him –she was still resenting him because of the meeting this morning- but he was floating in his little world, and he was almost humming as he took from his cupboard a bottle of wine, answering her in a cheerful tone;

"Did you know that Duke Simon was arriving in a few days, Erza?"

"Yes, I met Shou this evening," she answered, her face softening.

He put the bottle of wine on the table and took two glasses, before turning around to watch her, noticing the warm tint in her eyes.

"Do you know him? Sir Shou, I mean."

"Yes, he was a neighbor of mine. I was the one who trained him and introduced him to Sir Simon."

"I see."

He gestured her to come and sit, but Erza frowned again and glared at him.

"Just why am I supposed to stay with you? You already had me last night," she said in a sharp tone.

Mystogan looked at her with disbelief, the bottle of wine in his hand, his excitement dying down.

"You're mistaken, Erza. I'm merely inviting you to stay for the night."

"I don't understand you," said Erza, her stance defensive. "What's the point of having me here if not to sleep with you?"

"You will be sleeping with me," retorted Mystogan, filling two glasses of red wine.

She rolled her eyes.

"You know what I meant, Your Highness. What I mean is that I am your lover, not your wife! I do not see why we should spend time together apart from-"

"So you're telling me you prefer being considered like a piece of meat?" cut coldly Mystogan.

His hold tightened around his glass. He had known since the beginning it would never work, that Erza would not surrender, would not want to see him as a person. She did not want to spend time with him apart from 'that'. She did not want to get emotionally involved.

Her eyes narrowed, she was feeling insulted and he knew it.

"What did you say?" she said dangerously.

"You heard me," snapped Mystogan.

He could not bear the tight knot in his chest anymore, and he gulped down his wine, relishing the burning sensation that spread through his throat and in his chest. Yes, maybe he could get drunk tonight, maybe then he would forget all about this infuriating Erza!

"Why you little…" began Erza, stepping forwards.

He did not hear any more of her words. Suddenly, the burning sensation of alcohol left the place to a terrible, painful shock, and he dropped his glass. It fell on the floor and burst into a thousand million shards, and Erza froze, her face changing into a shocked one as she watched him stumble.

What was happening? What the Hell was happening? Mystogan could not breathe, could not move, his whole body throbbing with an agonizing pain. The floor seemed to waver under his feet. He could not hear Erza anymore, and he could feel his limbs turning numb.

He could not breathe, and he realized with horror that the wine had been poisoned. And the venom was so fast and so strong that there were no way his doctors would succeed in curing him.

He could not breathe! He gripped his own throat in his hands and fell on his knees. Erza's voice reached his ears, deformed and extended, doubled with a dizzying echo.

"Mystogan! _Mystogan_ !"

Then his stomach clenched painfully and he felt the bile rushing up his throat and spitting out of his mouth. He collapsed in Erza's arms and the last thing he saw was her bright flowing hair, hanging like a proud scarlet banner.

**To be continued...**

**Reviews make me happy!**


	5. Snake Set Free

**King Mystogan**

THANK YOU SO MUCH, EVERYONE!

I'm still a bit depressed (family reasons), but I have more time than before, so I was able to update sooner! Your reviews really helped me a lot!

OK, before I let you read the new chapter, I have to say something important. Yeah. As you must have noticed, until now the chapters were shifting between Erza's and Mystogan's POVs. Usually, when I write a fic, I write all kind of POVs in the same chapter, because I always write at the third person. But, I dunno why -maybe because it was originally a two-shots- this fic's chapters only have one POV at the time. All this to say that I intend to keep it this way and am introducing in this chapter a new POV.

I know what you all are thinking. "NO-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O!"

But, well, this is a fic about conspiracies and wars and etc, so it is necessary that we follow some other POVs if we want to understand everything. Also, I like the fact I can use whoever character I want to, 'cause I'm in Edo, so I can use the counterpart in any way I want to! About that, I must add something too.

I think it utterly unrealistic that the same people from different worlds would have the same kind of role, like if they were destined to be genius, well-known, etc, etc, or just mere shit. But well, this is a fic, and I don't think anybody here wants a lot of OCs coming out from nowhere. As a fan, I like to use the original characters.

So, even if it's not realistic, I will be using a lot of counterpart characters (exept from the FT guild...I don't like them. The Earthland one are so much better). About these characters, you may say they're OC, or on the contrary too similar to the Earthland one. But, well, I think it is not truly clear if counterparts are supposed to be the opposite version of Earthlands, 'cause to me, Mystogan is pretty similar to Jellal, and Erza K to Erza Scarlet, the only difference being they have not been slaves or messed up by an evil mage. So I concluded that what made the characters different from Earthland to Edo, was simply their background, their experience, their family, well you get what I mean. The soul is the same, so they are some things that cannot change, and well you will see!

Oh, and don't worry: most chapters are from Mystogan's or Erza's POVs. Other POVs will be from time to time.

Now let's start with the important stuff!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fairy Tail. Only Edwin Stormbringer, Cyan Tumbleweed, a few bad people (Ken, Shoon...), and the randoms, are mine. Oh, and the plot. ;)

Aaaaannnnd...on with the chapter!

**5. Snake Set Free**

For two whole years now, his sharp hearing could not catch anything else than the church bell, the moans of the other prisoners, and the yells and fat laughs of their jailers. One year ago though, he had heard the loud rumbling of the war against Lord Dragneel. Apparently the old Faust had been sent away in a faraway prison island, and his son, the once lost Prince Jellal, had become King Mystogan the First.

"Mystogan, heh…what a weird name," he had thought.

Time in this darkness did not flow the same way it did in the outside world. Once a day, he was allowed to have a walk in the dungeon, under the careful watch of his jailors. Most of the time, he was hanging against the wall of his cell, his wrists chained to the wall. It was painful and humiliating, but with the time he barely felt his sore shoulders, ribs and neck, neither did he paid any attention to the mocking eyes, touches and voices of the jailors.

All this time, he was contemplating his life, imagining ways to escape from this dark pit and to take revenge on this bloody Fairy Hunter. He would gladly strangle her to death even if it was the last thing he would do! Still, it had been a good fight; Knightwalker sure was born with the blood of a warrior, just like himself.

Suddenly, a loud metallic BANG! echoed in the dungeon, just as if someone had shot the gate open with an armored foot. Instantly, the jailers who had been noisily playing cards, protested with surprised voices;

"Ge-General Knightwalker! What!"

The dungeon resounded with swift armored steps, and then with a violent metallic slash, the lock from his cell was forced and the iron door thrown open, revealing the imposing figure of the Fairy Hunter, all clad in hazel and gold robes and heavy steel armors, her famous spear in her hands.

"General Knightwalker! What are you doing?" bellowed the jailers, whom he could make out the frightened faces in the dim light of the corridor.

The Fairy Hunter stepped in, pointing her spear on him, and yelled in her strong, unwavering voice;

"Do you want to be free, Cobra?"

He shivered and fixed incredulous eyes upon her. There was no doubt that she knew how dangerous he could still be, even -and especially- after years of prison. His voice rang in the dark cell, rough and throaty from the thirst and the strain, and it sounded strange to him to speak after so long.

"Ha? The Hell you're talking about, woman?"

She pressed the tip of her spear against his chest, boring her eyes into his.

"I promise you freedom if you lend me your services, Cobra. What is your answer?"

"Tch. As if I would believe you, Knightwalker!" he snarled.

She pressed harder her blade, but he did not flinch. The feeling of pain had been his fellow for years now.

"We have no time to lose! Answer!"

"General Knightwalker! What are you doing? Cobra is dangerous, you can't set him free!" yelped a jailer behind her.

"If you don't get out, my General, we'll call Captain Erigor!" added another one.

They were pale and frightened and confused. They did not know what to do, did not know if they really could stand against a General. The sight made Cobra smirk.

"Fine. I can hear you. Set me free, woman."

In two slashes of her spear, the Fairy Hunter crashed down the chains, and Cobra fell harshly on the floor with a slight gasp of pain. Without any compassion, Erza ordered;

"Stand up! We have no time to lose!"

"You'll have to carry me, princess," sniggered Cobra. "My legs can't weight me after so long."

To his surprise, Erza actually grasped his neck slave-collar and helped him to lean on her shoulder, before hurrying out of the dungeon, her spear still in her hand. The jailers were running everywhere, panicking, their shouts echoing in the cells.

"Should we call Captain Erigor?"

"Is General Knightwalker an enemy?"

"Aaaah, what should we do?"

Erza was not listening to them. She was already running up the stairs, and Cobra felt his whole body protesting against the sudden effort of climbing; even with her arm around his waist, holding him with a stronger grip than his hand on her shoulder, he could feel his body weighing on his feeble legs. He only had a walk once per day; it wasn't enough to keep him in a good shape. He gritted his teeth, bearing it in silence as he knew Erza would not show him any pity.

After what seemed to be an eternity, they reached the keep and passed through the astonished soldiers and gossiping servants. Cobra had absolutely no idea of what was going on, but whatever it was, it had to be a big deal if Knightwalker had thought necessary to pick him up without any permission. The chattering of the soldiers and servants made his ears buzz, and he felt like he was going to faint, his legs still feeling like cotton and his heart hammering against his chest.

"Don't be a sissy," hissed Erza to him, which stirred anger into him.

But he didn't have the time to reply, as they arrived in front of the royal apartments' door, which was crowded with soldiers, servants, and counselors. General Rahal was standing at the door with two soldiers from the Keep Guard –Cobra recognized them at their uniform, which was dark blue with steel plates- and forbidding anyone to enter.

"That Coco!" groaned Erza, "I told her not to make a commotion!"

Her grip on Cobra's waist tightened, bruising him. Seriously, this woman was a bitch! She swung her spear around, yelling;

"Out of the way! Or lose your head!"

The crowd yelped with terror and split to let the evil woman pass. General Rahal frowned, lifting a hand to adjust his glasses on his nose.

"Just what are you doing, General Knightwalker? Bringing a criminal here?"

"Move," was Erza's deadly answer.

Rahal sighed and stepped aside; his soldiers did the same, and Erza entered with her prisoner.

"What the Hell is going on, Knightwalker?" managed to spit out Cobra, his breath finally recovered.

The Fairy Hunter did not answer him and directly entered in a noisy bedroom where panicked doctors were arguing around the four-poster bed. A small barefooted girl rushed to them, great fear showing in her eyes. Her face looked somewhat like a puppy's, with a small black nose and large, floppy ears-like hanging from her headwear.

"General Knightwalker! You finally came back! I called the doctors, but…but they don't know! They have no clue! What do we do, General Knightwalker? What do we do?"

And the girl burst into tears, her loud sobs breaking through the hubbub, and the doctors fell silent, turning around and stepping aside to let the Champion of Edoras pass. Erza pushed Cobra towards the bed, throwing him on his knees, and ordered in a final tone;

"He's poisoned. Save him."

Cobra blinked. He had been arrested years ago, and did not know who was that man with blue hair and red tattoo. But it was not hard to guess that he had to be important, as the doctors were going all frantic around them. That meant that if he failed, he would undoubtedly be beheaded by Knightwalker.

"There's no magic anymore," he remarked. "I cannot do much."

"You will cure him or I'll rip your arms off and eviscerate you, and make sure you stay alive while the crows eat your eyeballs and your guts," answered Erza in a nasty tone.

Cobra gulped. He was not feeling very well and knew he could not stand a fight with her, and even less bear torture with strong dignity. At his state, he would probably break easily. Carefully standing on his weak legs, Cobra leant over the man to examine him closer. Watching carefully the symptoms, he remarked at once the purple bruises on the man's lips.

"What happened exactly?"

"His wine was poisoned," answered curtly Erza.

"We already tested the wine with all the classic poisons revealers, but none of them reacts. It is an unknown poison," added a doctor.

Cobra noticed the loud gasps the man was making while breathing; he was awake, eyes wide-open, but Cobra doubted he was conscious at all.

"He had stopped breathing as well," said Erza, as if she was reading his mind, "I lost about five minutes to make him breathe again."

"A complete paralysis," murmured Cobra.

"He vomited bile too."

Cobra nodded. These were symptoms that could fit with many poisons, but he believed the doctors when they said they already tested them. What ticked the most Cobra was the fact that the man was actually still alive. This meant it was a slow poison. Why would somebody choose to kill someone with a slow poison? Unless the poison itself really was a brand new one.

The man almost choked, and Erza hurried over him to help him breathe. Well, slow or not, this paralysis really was a problem –it could stop his breathing and heart. Then Cobra caught something else; he knew that look in the man's eyes. It was a look of utterly insanely strong pain. Whatever the poison was, it not only did paralyze him, but also hurt him.

As the man choked again, blood sputtered out of his mouth, mixed with a bluish ink. Cobra stopped Erza who was about to wipe it, and stared at the thing.

It couldn't be…it really looked like…-this blue-purple, laced with gold and silver, like a magic spell…it looked awfully like the results of his snake friend's venom, but this last always bit its prey, which was why Cobra had actually no idea of what would happen if somebody swallowed it. But if it really was snake venom, then it couldn't hurt to try. After all, he was immune to most poisons; he had developed a natural immunity by ingesting very light doses of every poison he could find, resulting in him being resistant to even unknown poisons.

"Give me the wine," said Cobra, turning to Erza.

She frowned, but gestured the doctors to obey. A doctor handed him the bottle, and the audience gasped as Cobra took a sip of the deadly beverage. The taste of alcohol was very strong for him, as he had had nothing else than disgusting water during two whole years, but he could feel it anyway –the relishing taste of _Cubellios_, his long-time lost snake friend. Cobra put down the bottle, feeling his limbs becoming limp, and his stomach clenching with pain –his resistance had greatly diminished, he had to admit.

"Did any of you Generals have, by any chance, kept my katanas somewhere?" he asked Erza.

The doctors were murmuring, and their chatter was beginning to make his head throb. Erza nodded;

"Yes, I did. I always keep my opponents' weapons. Why do you want them?"

"Just do as I say, woman. I'm in no shape to fight, anyway," snapped Cobra, sitting down, his back against the bed for support.

Damn it, it really did hurt, that bloody venom! But there was no mistaking; it really was Cubellios' venom. The Fairy Hunter stood up and rushed out of the bedroom. Then, the little girl, who had stopped crying, dismissed all the doctors but one, the old geezer that had always looked over the royal family. Two maids stayed in the room, holding towels and buckets of water as the old doctor worked to keep the man breathing. The little girl gave Cobra a glass of fresh water that felt like Heaven, and he slowly drank it, the water soothing his throat and dying down his thirst. After a short moment of peace, he understood something that had totally escaped him during the stressful diagnostic.

"Hey...just who is this, anyway?" he asked the little girl, giving her his empty glass.

She glared at him, outraged.

"Who is this? This is the King, you rude jackass!"

His mouth hung open. The King? What the Hell? Who would want to poison the new King? He could never be worse than Faust! The door banged open and Erza entered, his two katanas in her armored hand. She stopped before him, looking at him with a hard glare.

"I won't give them to you. Tell me what you need them for."

"In the katana with the purple hilt, there's a keep. There's an antidote for this particular venom in it. Make him swallow it."

Erza hastily searched and found the little phial, and handed it to him;

"Take a sip of it first."

He rolled his eyes –her precautions were useless: if he had poison in this phial, he would be immune to it anyway. However he obeyed her, and then handed the phial to the old doctor in a careful movement. The doctor gently lifted the King's head to make him drink. Cobra closed his eyes. The pain and the paralysis were finally subsiding, thanks to the antidote, but he was not that relieved; his defenses against poison had decreased, and he would have to restart his immunizing training again one day.

As a soft cough echoed in the bedroom, and the gentle, comforting voice of the doctor reached his ears, he guessed that the King had regained consciousness and that his shivers had stopped. Still, the King would need another few hours before being able to move properly again.

A loud metallic sound resounded in the room, and Cobra's eyes snapped open; astonished, he saw that the Fairy Hunter had let go of his katanas, letting them crash on the floor; she was holding her chest, her eyes closed, taking in big breaths.

"Thank God," said a small, trembling voice that could certainly not come from her. "Thank God, he's safe."

Oh bloody Hell, it really _was _her! What the heck happened during the time he was in jail? The darn evil woman actually seemed to be relieved! And happy! Cobra shakily stood up and commented;

"Still, he will most likely have a high fever for a few hours. With rest, he should be fine on the morning."

"I see," nodded the doctor, his hand on the King's already burning forehead. "Millianna, Angel, please put the bucket here and give me the towels."

"Yes, doctor!" said the two maids, and Cobra grimaced at their fluffy style of clothing. The two maids seemed to be competing on the cutest outfit, but in Cobra's eyes, it was just plain ugly. No, really! Ears and tail of cats? Frills? Pink? Angel's wings? Feathers? Eek.

Erza sat on the bed, next to the King, and gently pushed his blue locks aside his forehead, feeling his high temperature. The doctor and the little girl watched her in silence. The two maids looked at each other with a "WTH?" expression, while Cobra's mind still couldn't comprehend this so not-Knightwalker-like behavior. King Mystogan coughed weakly again, then a soft whine rose from his still bluish lips;

"Please…shut down this light…"

"Yes, My King," whispered Erza, and then she looked up and bellowed; "Shut these damn lights and fuck off! The King needs rest!"

The maids instantly bowed and begged for her forgiveness before leaving in a hurry. The doctor shook his head;

"Are you going to watch over him, General Knightwalker?"

"Yes, Coco and I will take care of him. Go and rest, doctor."

"Fine then, I will be in the medical bay if you need me, my General. I am going to do more of this antidote and make a complete analysis of this poison."

"I wish you good luck," sniggered Cobra, "It's venom from a very unique snake."

"I was talking to you too, Cobra," snapped Erza, "Fuck off! General Totomaru is waiting for you outside."

Cobra shot her a murderous glare before leaving the room, pulled by the arm by the little girl –Coco, was it? While the doctor left by the door they came in, Coco lead Cobra to another door, half-concealed by a heavy velvet curtain. This door gave out onto a private and empty corridor, but, to his surprise Coco stopped and put a finger on her lips.

"Shh," she said, and before he could answer, she bent over to watch through the keyhole.

"What the Hell? Are you a peeping Tom?" gasped Cobra.

"Aren't you curious as well? Erza is a big wonder to me," piped the little girl. "Ah, Coco can't see! It's too dark!"

"Leave it to me," growled Cobra.

Why did he do it in the first place? It wasn't as if he was friend with the girl. He took Coco's place, feeling completely stupid, and the girl pressed her ear against the door, listening. Cobra's eyes were much more used to the obscurity than Coco, and he could distinguish Erza sitting on the bed –crap, were these his katanas next to her spear? He totally had to take them back. No way he would leave them to her! He vaguely wondered why the keyhole gave right on the bed –maybe the interior designer was a peeping Tom as well.

He saw Erza sigh of relief. Then as King Mystogan tugged on her robes, she turned to look at him.

"I hate it when you look like this," said Erza in an annoyed tone. "It is the second time, my King. Care to explain why?"

She was hiding her concern very well, thought Cobra. She had been on the verge of tears just a while ago. King Mystogan pulled her. Nodding curtly, she stood up to take off her armors –yeah, strip-tease!-, only keeping on her robes –ah, darn it-, and she took place in the bed next to him, pulling him into a tight embrace.

"What they're doing?" whispered Coco in Cobra's ear, almost making him jump with surprise –shit, the little brat really was a silent one!

"She went in bed with him, stop tugging on my clothes!" snapped Cobra.

A chuckle from the King made them both turn quiet.

"What is so funny about the situation, my King?" said Erza.

They could not hear his answer, as King Mystogan's voice was much too soft, but whatever it was, it made Erza freeze and stare at him. Slowly, she moved over and kissed his tattoo, raising her hands and placing them on his shoulders. Cobra's eyes went wide.

"What they're doing?" whined Coco, tugging at his shirt again. Wait, he hadn't any shirt –holy shit, the girl was tugging on his beltless pants! His hips were showing! And –holy shit, he could not believe that Erza was snuggling and kissing the King!

"What they're doing! Tell Coco!" yelped Coco, tugging harder.

"Erza's kissing him! Seriously, what did you do to her?" he retorted, turning over to snatch her hands from his pants.

"Let Coco see!"

"No! You're underage!"

"What? But they're only kissing! Nobody's underage for kisses! And Coco already saw the King naked!" protested the girl, furious.

Then a calm, mocking, deliciously womanly voice rose behind them, stopping them dead in their childish argument.

"As much as I enjoy the sight, General Totomaru and counselor Ur are still waiting for you two. Could you please move on?"

He turned around, realizing that the newcomer had a nice view on his lower back –a little bit more tugging from Coco, and it would have been on his ass. Not that he really minded; Cobra was not someone shy or easily troubled, and he was about to smirk a smartass answer, but it instantly died in his throat when his eyes fell on the woman standing in the corridor.

Oh. My. God. No wait, he didn't believe in God –but holy shit, this woman was just plain hot! White skin, black hair and eyes, a proud stance, and a revealing purple dress with a black velvet waistband, high heels…who was that gorgeous? Crap, was it because he hadn't seen woman for ages? He was trembling like a teenager!

Coco stood up, unfazed, a pout on her puppy-like face. And then it hit him.

"Wait…what the heck? You saw the King naked? How old are you? Ten?"

"What!" cried out Coco, furious. "Coco isn't ten! She's twelve!"

"Still! It's far too young, you perverted brat!"

"Coco is not perverted! What's the big deal about being naked? We're all the same!"

"Uh-hum," coughed the woman, bringing back the attention on her.

She was not amused anymore, but rather impatient. Cobra stood up, growling.

"Fine, fine, we're coming. Geez, you don't have to be a bitch with it!"

The woman's eyes narrowed, and she suddenly lifted a leg to hit him in the guts; Cobra let out a hiss as the heel dug into his stomach; stumbling, his back harshly hit against the wall.

"You bitch!" he snarled, eyes flashing with rage.

"Didn't you learn your lesson, savage?" said the woman, her tone rising with the anger.

Coco stood between them to stop the fight.

"Enough, you two! Cobra, you cannot call Miss Ultear such names! Miss Ultear, Cobra is still a little weak because of the prison, you shouldn't hit him. The two of you, please follow Coco."

She pulled Cobra by his wrists, already sprinting like the annoying hyperactive girl she was. Cobra heard the heels of Miss Ultear behind them, calmly hitting the floor. Finally, Coco opened a door and they entered; it was another private door, noticed Cobra, as it was concealed behind a big shelf, and the room appeared to be the King's office. Another door -the official one- could be seen on the other side.

Two persons were waiting for them. He recognized the man as the General Totomaru, so the woman had to be the counselor Ur. Heh, he didn't know women could be counselors. Counselor Ur was with any doubt Ultear's mother: the two women looked like each other a lot, one of the most noticeable differences being that Ur dressed up as a man.

Cobra had already seen Totomaru in battle; the young man hadn't changed at all. The both of them came from the same little kingdom in the east, and Totomaru still dressed up in its traditional style. He was wearing a mix between a ninja's and a samurai's attire: a red tunic with a fox-furred collar and fishnets on his forearms as well as to the sides of his garb. He had black pants and boots that reached his knees. His hair, of a curious mix of white and black, was tied up into an eastern-style top knot. On his left hip was strapped his katana, and as he looked at Cobra, taking in the toll the prison had taken on the warrior, his thumb unconsciously stroked the black hilt of the katana. His expression hadn't changed: hard, uncaring and somber, his dark glare enhanced by the black tattoo that crossed his nose and both his cheeks in a discontinued line –that was seriously emo, thought Cobra.

There was one major difference between them, though, that could seem trivial, but actually was full of meaning: Totomaru's complexion was pale, whereas Cobra was all tanned, even after his two years of no-sun. In their country, it was a distinctive sign of status; Totomaru was a noble, whereas Cobra was dirt. However, Totomaru did not held the same air than the other nobles. Cobra had heard many rumors on him, about his lack of pity and his unhealthy fascination towards fire. He wondered why the King had accepted him as one of his main Generals; he thought it to be a very dangerous choice.

Ur walked on him, holding her hand to him;

"I am counselor Ur. Nice to meet you, Cobra."

"Sure," he answered in a sarcastic tone. He heard Ultear hiss of anger behind him; apparently the girl was quite fond of her mommy.

Totomaru's voice rose, low and unwavering;

"It has been a long time, Cobra. But do not think I have forgotten who you are."

"Hi, my pleasure, my General," said Cobra in an angelic tone.

Totomaru's eyes darkened.

"Shut up. We're only being kind to you because General Knightwalker asked us to. As for me, I would have thrown you back were you deserve to be, in the dirt with the rats."

He stepped forwards, seizing the iron collar of Cobra.

"And this is a reminder of what you truly are, Cobra. A piece of shit, wielding katanas without the right to, and bringing shame to the name of warriors. Trash like you should be crucified as an example."

Cobra's legs wavered again; he could not breathe. He didn't want to show any weakness to that bloody noble, but his body couldn't stand it anymore, and his mind, violently attacked by the cruel words of Totomaru, let ancient thoughts break through his mental dam, assaulting his eyes with flashes –the cold, dark mines -the whines of the slaves -dirt -hard ore -whips –hunger –hurt -bruises –illness –darkness –blood –_Cubellios…_

_Snap out of it!_

He snatched Totomaru's hand from his collar, hissing;

"Fuck off, asshole. I'm a warrior and I could kick your ass whenever I want to."

Ur stood between them, a worried look on her face.

"Please, enough of this! We are here to make an agreement. Cobra, you are to respect General Totomaru. Now, have a sit. You too, please, my General."

Totomaru shook his head while Ur sat down at the King's desk. Cobra sat in front of her. Ur gave her audience a little smile and got on;

"General Knightwalker promised to free you if you manage to save the King, which you did. We are very grateful for this, but you must understand we cannot let you go just like this."

"I wouldn't have guessed," snorted Cobra.

Ur ignored his provocation.

"Your kingdom has been annexed by Edoras two years ago, a few months after you were captured by General Knightwalker. When Prince Jellal became King, he named General Totomaru governor."

"I thought Edoras was in war with its neighbor."

"There's been a truce, but only officially."

"You mean the enemy keeps pillaging my homeland and nobody cares. Just like when Edoras was in war. You and the enemy thought it funny to use this land as a playground."

His nails sinked into his palms, but he did not feel the pain. Ur nodded quietly, a sad look on her warm features. Totomaru was the one who continued;

"A bunch of pathetic separatists continue to fight against our authority. They call themselves the Trinity Raven and are leaded by a certain Taka, which we've never seen. They do not understand that they are not helping with the situation at all. The royalty's dead, they should just accept it. The kingdom needs our help to stand against our neighbors."

"_Our _help?" repeated Cobra, sarcastic. "Why, Totomaru, you're not thinking you're an Edorian, do you?"

"I work for the King of Edoras," replied Totomaru in a hard tone. "I do not care about who's from where, but the fact is that only Edoras can stand against King Azuma. These stupid separatists should be aware of that! The truth is that they gain from this situation; people can't tell whether they've been looted by Azuma or by the Trinity Raven."

"Just why are you telling me all this? I don't give a shit of political things," spat Cobra.

"We are giving you a choice here, Cobra. You work with us, or you go back to jail. You were known for your obsession of protecting your homeland, so I want to make sure you understand that the Trinity Raven are only a bunch of greedy fools."

"Sure, but seriously, I don't give a damn anymore. You all can go and kill each other for all I care."

"There's another thing," piped in Coco in a serious tone.

What the Hell? Why was the girl butting in? And why didn't Ur and Totomaru make her shut up?

"According to our reports, it is quite possible that the Trinity Raven has ties with the Conspiracy."

Conspiracy? That stirred up something enjoyable; excitement, eagerness. Totomaru smirked at his change of expression.

"I know very well that you are a filthy snake who absolutely loves to stick its nose into stinking places. Is dismantling a conspiracy enough to keep you entertained, Cobra?"

"Now you're catching my interest. Keep going."

Ur spoke again, relating the last events; how King Mystogan had almost been assassinated two times, one by an ambush and the other, as he knew, by poisoning. Then Coco explained that the Conspiracy was recruiting, and now even had a squad of trained assassins since the first failed attempt; named the Silent Guard, it was supervised by a certain Midnight. However, 'Midnight' was a codename, and they did not find his true identity yet.

Yet something was amiss, thought Cobra. Maybe they did not see it because they were in this shit since the beginning of Mystogan's reign, but something struck him, him who had been left in nothing than the chattering of his jailers.

"Wait. Mystogan had not been targeted before?"

"No," answered Ur. "Why?"

"When did these shitty conspirators begin their actions?"

"Since the beginning. They tried to discredit Prince Jellal so he wouldn't be elected King by his people, but they failed because the people loved him. He had saved them from Lord Dragneel, you see. But ever since, they continue to act; it is most certain that they have infiltrated the council and the army. It is very difficult to make any new laws because of the resistance the Council opposes. Many things have been blocked; our King is having a real hard time doing everything by himself. He cannot trust anybody here."

"OK, I heard you. Apart from you two-"

"Three!" yelped Coco.

"Four," corrected Ultear, in a menacing voice that sent shivers in his spine. He ignored her;

"Apart from you all, who's supporting the King here?"

Ur hesitated. Then, slowly;

"As I said, the King can't trust anybody here. The Generals Totomaru, Rahal and Knightwalker are the most trustable, I think. And within the counselors, maybe the young Cyan Tumbleweed would be. Then there is Coco. But that is all. We don't know for sure how many soldiers truly are loyal."

"Ooooo-Kay, that makes, like, six persons? Seven with Miss Gorgeous here. No, really, are you kidding me? You expect me to work for you? You all are so totally screwed up!"

He was roaring with laugh. Seriously, that was the worst situation he had ever seen! This stupid King Mystogan was working his ass off for a country that apparently wanted nothing else than kick him off! And the funniest thing in it was that the people did not even see it! They were still believing Faust's lies, believing the tale about Lord Dragneel, and so on, and so on! The Conspiracy was without any doubt leaded by the formers rulers of the Kingdom, and they were for sure making a good job!

Still, it was bugging him. He stopped laughing and said in a serious tone;

"If you all are so deep in the shit, why the Hell didn't they tried to kill him sooner?"

Ur, Coco and Totomaru stared at him. He couldn't see Ultear, because she was behind him.

"I don't know", finally said Ur. "It didn't strike me before. Is that really important?"

"Well yeah, it is. Why are they doing it now, when they could have done so at the beginning, when all was still in a mess? Back then, Mystogan was the most vulnerable. Why didn't they do it then? Why now? And why so close in time? It's like they have a time limit or something."

"A time limit?" repeated Ur.

"I see," said slowly Totomaru. "You're actually making sense, trash. They are getting afraid of something, and so they are getting reckless."

"Erza's behavior seemed to annoy them," said Coco. "They did not expect her to support the King."

"Then are they afraid the King would become stronger? That would be very likely, now that he has General Knightwalker's support, and that Duke Simon is coming back," said Ur.

Cobra jumped.

"What? The Corsair Prince is coming back?"

"He sent a messenger today. The Bakeneko will deck in the capital harbor in about four days," confirmed Ur.

"Aw, no fun," whined Cobra. "With the Corsair Prince, we're sure to win. We don't even have to move our asses, he will do all the job for us. That man's a monster."

"We?" repeated Totomaru in a mocking tone. "_Why, _Cobra_, you're not thinking you're an Edorian, do you?_"

"Fuck you, bastard!" snarled Cobra.

"Please! Stop! I suppose you're in, then, Cobra?" said Ur, rising her voice.

"Hell yeah! I can't wait to kick the ass of all these shitty conspirators. I love hide-and-sick. This' gonna be fun."

The back door suddenly opened, surprising them all, and the Fairy Hunter entered, fully armored.

"I see Cobra's joining us?" she said.

She did not seem fazed at all, as if she had already been expecting it. Totomaru replied sternly;

"Still, you will have to watch over him, Erza. We can't just go and let him do all he wants like this. He will have to earn our trust."

"Go to Hell, shitty noble," retorted Cobra.

Erza nodded curtly to her fellow general, then turned to Coco.

"Before you go and watch over the King, Coco, I have something to ask you."

"Yes, my General!" exclaimed Coco, making a military salute.

"I want to pay a visit to a certain poison master. I just got her full name in a report."

"Got it. Coco will find her. What's her name?" replied Coco.

"Shoon Aivirrne."

At the sinister look on Erza's face, Cobra guessed that the poison master would not be brought back to the castle. She was going to speak on the spot, and then, without any doubt…

…the Fairy Hunter would kill her, in the most painful and gruesome way possible. This was Erza Knightwalker's sense of justice.

Everything was fine, then. Erza Knightwalker had not changed. She had not gained any heart. The rulers of this world were still bloody bastards, and so he, Cobra, had still the right to shed blood.

**To be continued...**

And don't worry, you will know what Mystogan told Erza in the next chapter! ;)

Review?


	6. Thorny Rosie

**King Mystogan**

Wow! This one is actually almost as gigantic as the third chapter, I'm so happy! Still, I think there's too much dialogs, but well, you will be the one to judge! :)

I was so touched by your enthusiastic reviews that it helped me to keep the rythm of one chapter per week! That's a first for me, I've always been a rather irregular author. I've already planned out the whole thing, btw, so if you wanna know, this fic should have thirty chapters! My longest fic ever! We'll see if I'll actually succeed in writing it...

I thank all the people who put my story in their favs/alerts! I'm glad you like it! I'll now say a few words to my fantastic reviewers. I love you guys!

To **XienRue**: thank you for your thank you! I'll try to keep updating regularly. ;)

To **Wolfteam000**: thanks! I hope you'll like this chapter as well, it isn't as funny as the previous one. :(

To **Asianpearl**: Hehe, you want to see Simon? He's coming in the next chapter, don't worry (I don't believe it's that much of a spoiler, so I'm telling you ;) )!

To **MelzZz**: I'm updating! :D You know, each time I see your name, I think of a sleeping Mest. I dunno why. O_o

To **Mirime VY**: thank you! I wasn't sure whether or not it was a good idea to use other POVs, so thanks! I'm always looking forward to your reviews, 'cause well, without your fictions, I would have never even started to write this one! ^^

To **Mangaka Shuzen**: *blushes* Thank you, that's so kind!

To **Saint Sky**: OMG a big review! That made my day! See, I'm updating! So don't bang your head on a wall ! XD Thank you for your comments, it helps me improving my writing. Still, so many compliments! I'm gonna faint! ^^

To **Disclaimer**: I don't own Fairy Tail, you idiot disclaimer. Jellal would have kicked Midnight's ass if I did.

About this chapter, beware, there's some violence. At first I didn't intend to put in some, because I hate violence -out of the context of fights, I mean-, but while I was reading Erza's profile on the Fairy Tail wiki, I realized I was slowly forgetting that she had been a real mean character. I mean, in the wiki, they say Erza is supposed to have killed half of the Fairy Tail guild. I didn't verify it in the manga 'cause I suppose they know their stuff, but it made me quite uncomfortable, 'cause to me, if it was the case, it is impossible for her to switch from the 'bad' mode into the 'good' mode. However, when her and Erza Scarlet part, it is obvious Erza K did switch into the 'good' mode. So, in my fiction, I modified a few things about Erza K: she didn't kill half the guild. Seriously, that's too much. Look, even Gajeel didn't kill anybody before joining the team, and at that time I thought it was already a bit too much the way he had beaten up Lucy. I mean, after he joins they remind us of the Shadow Gear being beaten up by him, but not of Lucy. And Lucy isn't even frightened to see him. A bit weird, I think.

Ugh...I ended up blahblah-ing, so sorry! Here's your chapter! Have a nice reading! Oh, and please tell me if you spot any mistake! I do feel there're some bugs here and there in my grammar, but I fail to see them!

**6. Thorny Rosie**

It was haunting. It was frightening. It was a horrible, dreadful feeling that would never leave her in peace; and even if King Mystogan was now safely sleeping in her arms, a soft expression on his beautiful features, her heart wouldn't stop hammering in her chest –she was terrorized.

"_What did you say?"_

_He was insulting her. The anger and the hurt boiled in her veins, wiping out all her patience. King Mystogan was infuriating, playing with her like this! She agreed to be his lover, not a sorry excuse of a queen! _

"_You heard me," snapped the King, his green eyes turning into a darker shade._

_He arrogantly gulped down his wine, ignoring her on purpose. She was trembling with rage, and she stepped forward, her hand tightening around her spear._

"_Why you little shit! What would you want me to do? Fall in love with you?"_

_She had stepped over the line, she knew it, but she did not expect him to drop his glass; surprised, she watched as the glass hit the floor and exploded into a bright firework of shimmering shards. King Mystogan gasped loudly, and she froze from the shock when she saw him stumble._

_This was wrong. This was not happening. King Mystogan could not being gasping as if he couldn't breathe, could not be that livid, could not be holding his throat as if trying to choke the oxygen in!_

_Paralyzed by the horror, Erza snapped out of her daze at the moment he fell on his knees. Dropping her spear, she rushed over, the shout leaving her lips without any restrain;_

"_Mystogan!"_

_He was choking. She caught him in her arms, but he was already leaving her; gasping loudly, his eyes unseeing her, bile spitting out from his mouth. Poisoned…the King had been poisoned…right in front of her! And there was absolutely nothing she could do to help him!_

_The doctors would not be fast enough…the doctors would not know what to do…Erza frantically pulled on her hair, panicking. What should she do? _

_Then, all of sudden, his gasps stopped._

_He…wasn't breathing anymore._

Erza shuddered. She had never felt as hopeless before –it was just like that time in the cave, when he had almost died. It was the second time the Conspiracy tried to assassinate him, and even if she was the Champion of Edoras, she had been useless and unable to protect him. She had no idea how they managed to put a bottle of poisoned wine in the King's chambers, but that was utterly frightening. These people could infiltrate everywhere! The King was not safe, even in his own apartments!

He was the one who was right, asking her to stay with him. She should never have left him alone in the first place. He needed a bodyguard, for God's sake!

_When the last remaining persons finally left, Erza let out a sigh of relief. Then she felt a weak tug on her robes, and she looked down at Mystogan._

"_Erza…" he called in a whisper._

_She was so shaken she had to hold back from giving him a bear hug._

"_I hate it when you look like this. It is the second time, my King. Care to explain why?"_

_She was trying to hide her concern behind a fake annoyance. Mystogan blinked and pulled her. Understanding his silent request, she stood up to take off her armors, only keeping on her robes, and she took place in the bed next to him, pulling him into a tight embrace._

_It was at this moment, when she felt his strong and warm body against hers, his breath in her neck, and his silky hair under her fingers, that she truly understood how much she had feared to lose him. Then she heard a soft chuckle, and looked at him with surprise._

"_What is so funny about the situation, my King?"_

_He gave her a weak smile, the tiredness showing in his grayish eyes._

"_You ended up sleeping with me."_

_She stared at him, and felt something akin to hurt as she realized that he had taken her seriously. He really had believed her when she had argued about this idea, and she understood that he did not trust her. That he did think she considered him like a piece of meat._

_Silently, she kissed his tattoo and tenderly caressed his nape, knowing it would settle him down. And as soon as her fingers had curled into his soft blue locks, his eyes fluttered shut, and he sighed deeply. She kissed his closed eyes, then down his nose, then the corner of his mouth, before nesting her face on his shoulder, her cheek against his._

_Some loud and high-pitched voices could be heard from the private corridor, but she didn't really catch what the words meant –it seemed that it was Coco, but what she was saying, something about the King being naked, didn't make any sense. Erza closed her eyes, contemplating her situation._

_She should never have accepted Mystogan's offer. She hadn't been able to keep her feelings apart. And she knew she was getting more and more emotionally involved. _

_She could not continue this. She had to stop it before it became offhanded. But for the time being, he needed her, so she would stay by his side. And she was not one to break her oath._

How complicate this situation had become! She had to stop their relation here, before it became a real bother to her, but on the other hand, he really needed a bodyguard…so it was an urgent matter that she put an end to this Conspiracy. She moved a little, her limbs a bit aching from the unmoving position; she was afraid to wake him up. She watched his peaceful expression as he breathed, sound asleep.

Then, a soft knock at the back door caught her attention. She cautiously slipped out of the bed and reached for her sword, which was leaning on the wall with her spear and Cobra's katanas. Opening the door, she let the soldier from the Keep Guard enter, and gestured him to silently follow her into the living-room. As she closed the door behind her, she put down her sword, turning to face him.

"What is it, Edwin?"

The young soldier seemed out of breath. He took off his helmet, freeing his green hair, and excused himself before sitting on a chair. After a moment, he looked up;

"I just came back from a meeting, my General."

She frowned.

"The meeting was last night. How come there was another one?"

"I've been contacted by Ken, my General. I just met the Silent Squad."

"They're fast!" exclaimed Erza. "How come? Did they really trust you at once?"

"I am a quiet person, my General. I never voice my political views, especially when I am with the other soldiers. I know for a fact that many of them do not like the King. This apparently made them believe I could be trustable. Miss Coco also told me she had made up a few rumors about me."

"Coco is really efficient", murmured Erza. Hell, the girl had even been faster than the traitors!

"Yes, she is. Well, I had to report to you right now because I need to go back."

"You need to go back?" repeated Erza.

Edwin nodded.

"Tomorrow is my day off. I don't know how they learned it, but as a result they asked me to be in the old castle tomorrow. I suppose they will test me."

"Are they dwelling in the old castle?"

"No. They only use its old passageways, and it is very easy to get lost. I was not able to remember the way because as a precaution they blindfolded all new members. However, I managed to learn something that may be of interest for you, my General."

"Go ahead."

"In the old castle, I met with the coordinator Ken. I heard him speak with another coordinator about the poison master, that girl we met last night. Her full name is Shoon Airvirrne. I thought maybe Miss Coco would be able to find where she lives. Considering what happened during my absence, I suppose it may be an interesting piece of information."

Erza's blood was boiling. Suddenly, she was on him, and Edwin yelped as he saw the devil bounce on him. Erza gave him a bone-crushing hug, a scary grin baring her fangs.

"Thank you! Oh, thank you! I so needed to rip that bitch into shreds!"

"Er…I…I only did my job, General Knightwalker."

She released him, and playfully ruffled his hair.

"You did a good job. Will you be OK on your own? Don't get caught during that meeting, we wouldn't be able to come and save you."

"I…I'll manage, my General," said Edwin in a strangled voice.

OK, so the poor guy was just plain afraid. Erza smiled; even in this state, he did his best and wasn't going to step back. It was refreshing to know that there were still some people here who supported the King, and she quite liked Edwin; he made her feel like a big sister -a nostalgic feeling indeed.

"Before you go, Edwin, I would like you to guard the King for a moment. I'll be right back."

"Yes, my General."

"If anything happens, call for the Royal Doctor. He's in the medical bay. Do not let anyone else enter; I'm sure the poisoning was the work of a servant."

"Yes, my General."

She put back her armors, checked that Mystogan was fine and left him to Edwin's care. She wanted to see if counselor Ur and General Totomaru had reached to an agreement with that filthy snake, Cobra, whom she had pulled out of prison without seeking any permission.

Apparently, they had, but Totomaru annoyed the Hell out of her by dropping Cobra under her responsibility. She had half-hoped him to watch over Cobra, as the two of them were from the same ex-kingdom, but Totomaru had already guessed her intention and was not going to be used that easily.

And so, she was now stuck with that horrendous snake. She could not let anyone guard him, because he was far too dangerous (even if she had locked back his katanas in her chest), and thus, she had brought him back in her own bedroom.

Well, she would have a Hell of a good reputation now; having another man in her bedroom while being the King's lover…

"Hey, bitch! Don't fall asleep or you may be strangled in your slumber," said Cobra's annoying voice.

Erza frowned. She was lying on her bed, and Cobra was sitting on the carpet, in front of the fireplace.

"I'm not sleeping with you here," she replied calmly.

"I wouldn't want to sleep with a dominating bitch like you, anyway," snorted Cobra, misunderstanding her on purpose.

Oh, she was so going to murder him! Erza closed her eyes and obliged herself to breathe deeply, and thought of King Mystogan; they needed that stupid Cobra in their ranks, so she had to be patient. She chose not to answer, but her eyes snapped open as she heard a shuffling sound coming from the mercenary.

No, false alert; he had just made himself comfortable on the carpet, lying all curled up. She was far too nervous about having him here; he wasn't stupid enough to take revenge on her when he needed -and wanted- that job about dismantling the Conspiracy.

Still, she could not sleep with him here. And she was still plagued by all kind of scary thoughts. She had left Coco in the King's bedroom, but Coco did not fight. If a murderer were to come, Coco would be of no use…ah, but didn't Totomaru say something about him staying in the King's living-room for the night? Then Mystogan would be alright, wouldn't he?

She stood up to pick up a bottle of strawberry syrup, and called a servant, asking him a bottle of milk and one of sake –she did not intend on drinking the sake, but she knew that it would just be bad for her reputation. Everybody thought she drank the sake and gave the milk to her cat.

Speaking of which, where was her cat? She looked around and her eyes widened when she spotted the idiotic pet snuggling with Cobra, taking advantage of both the man's and the fireplace's warmth.

Cobra was asleep, she realized -and even sound asleep. It was kind of shocking, because she was supposed to be his enemy. He surely had to be exhausted to drop his guard like this. He was trembling in his sleep, a strained expression on his face, and something that resembled to pity made its way into her heart. Sighing, the Fairy Hunter rummaged in her closet, found a blanket, and carefully laid it on him. Her cat looked at her and meowed softly, with a mocking glance, as if it was saying to her;

"Being with Mystogan is a good thing, huh? It's melting the ice from your heart. Erza Scarlet would be proud of you."

Screw this. She had not promised Scarlet to be all lovey-dovey, but to protect the right things. She had a duty to fulfill, and she was not going to let useless feelings get in the way!

"Here is your sake and milk, my General," said a servant, bowing.

"Thanks."

She ended up drinking the sake instead of her beloved strawberry milk. Well, at least it wasn't poisoned, she pondered. She was just going to have a hangover.

The next morning, Erza forced Cobra to go and take a bath supervised by Coco -seriously, the guy stank- while she visited Mystogan. As she entered the living-room, a tired-looking Totomaru greeted her. The gloomy general was flopped into an armchair, in front of the fireplace, his black eyes bored into the surprisingly strong flames.

"Good morning, Totomaru. How is the King?"

Totomaru slowly stood up and lifted a hand to hide his yawn.

"Good morning, Erza. The King is fine and has already eaten his breakfast. He's dressing up."

"Did any of you two sleep last night?"

"Coco did. I didn't."

"I see. You should take some rest. I'll watch over the King from now on."

He nodded, thanked her, and left the room. Erza knocked at the door of the bedroom. To her surprise, the door instantly opened, revealing a fully dressed-up Mystogan. She bowed her head shortly.

"Good morning, My King."

"Ah, General Knightwalker," he answered curtly. "Did Totomaru leave?"

"Yes, your Highness. I am here to watch over you in his place."

Mystogan's green eyes almost glared at her, and suddenly she began to wonder if he was still resenting her for the argument they had the night before.

"Well, you are dismissed. I will be fine on my own," snapped Mystogan, passing by her and closing the bedroom door behind him.

Oh dear God…he _was sulking._ The great King Mystogan the first was a childish spiteful person! Erza followed him.

"I cannot let you go unwatched, my King. Your life is too precious and the Conspiracy is everywhere."

"I know that, thank you. But I am awake now, so I don't need someone breathing over my shoulder. It's annoying. You should go and train the soldiers."

"Are you mad at me, King Mystogan?" she asked.

Mystogan tensed, but did not stop walking. They were crossing his private corridor and heading for his office.

"Why would I be?" he answered in a soft voice.

"Then why are you trying to get rid of me?"

"You're the one who's trying to get rid of me, Erza Knigthwalker. I seriously wonder why you even accepted to be my lover in the first place."

This was the perfect opportunity to break up this relationship, and Erza opened her mouth to do so; however, no sound came from her throat, and she was suddenly deaf to the world, her ears filled up by the loud thumping of her own heart. She knew she had to do it, right now, to seize this pretext and end it before she would end up falling in love with him –she had already switched from hatred to liking, which was already alarming.

_But…I can't. He's distressed. He needs me…_

She had to hold on for a moment, at least until they had wiped out the Conspiracy. Then, she could let him go without feeling remorseful. For now, being his lover was the best way to keep an eye on him, and to smooth him down. This new resolve in mind, she spoke;

"You're speaking nonsense, your Highness. I slept with you last night, didn't I?"

"No, you didn't."

"Huh?"

Mystogan opened the door of his office and turned over to eye her from head to foot.

"I said, you _didn't_. You came in bed with me and left after I got asleep."

"I'm sorry, my King. I had received a late report from Edwin and had to settle a few things with Cobra. I couldn't stay. But I will certainly-"

"Enough!"

Her eyes widened. She was shocked by his reaction. It was about the first time she ever saw him clearly angered, the first time she had ever heard him raise his voice. His eyes had a very dark shade and his jaw was clenched; his usually soft features had hardened, and she flinched under his glare.

"You are dismissed, General Knightwalker," he pronounced in a low, even voice.

And he swiftly slammed the door in her face.

For a moment, she remained unmoving, completely astonished. And then, anger exploded in her veins; raging like a dragon, she stormed down into the courtyard, bellowing in a terrible voice;

"Keep Guard! Training session!"

A loud rumble burst as the units that weren't on duty hurried up to gather in the courtyard, hastily saluting the Champion of Edoras. The poor fellows had already been inspected by the officer in charge of them, General Rahal, but as the Grand General, Erza had the right to order any soldier from any Guard.

All the day long she trained, but it didn't calm down her anger; and Cobra, who was following her everywhere, did not help her at all. The filthy snake was just so annoying that it was a wonder she didn't end up beheading him! He did understand very well she was in a foul mood, and had apparently decided it would be a sweet revenge to make her go crazy. However, all these negative feelings were washed away in the evening, when Coco went into the courtyard and called her.

"I have it," said the little girl. "I found out Shoon Airvirrne's address."

A feeling of anticipation filled Erza. It was just like going to a hunt, and the excitement she was feeling called for the blood of her enemy.

"Very good, Coco! Cobra, come here!"

"What d'you want?" snorted the annoying snake.

"We're heading off to town. Come with me, we have to be appropriately dressed up."

She turned to Coco.

"We will most likely be off tonight as well. The King has to be watched over during the night, Coco. Tell Rahal to post trusted guards in front of the royal apartments, and in front of the garden door."

"Yes, my General, it will be done!"

Erza gestured Cobra to follow her to her chambers. She made him dress as a commoner, and gave him daggers he could hide under his clothes –he complained very loudly that he wanted his katanas back, and she smacked him on the nape to make him shut up. Then, she put on the outfit Coco had brought for her: it was a dress.

A. Bloody. Frilly. Pink. Dress. But well, all she had in mind was that she would soon be able to slice the throat of that slut. Erza dressed up slowly, making sure the dress fit her and would seem natural on her. Then she tied up her hair in a tight bun before putting on a bright green wig.

A burst of laughter made her turn around, and she frowned; Cobra was roaring with laughter, pointing at her wig.

"Bwahahaha! Knightwalker, you couldn't choose a worse color! Bright green does not fit you at all! It looks horrible on you! Hahaha!"

"Shut up! I'm supposed to be Edwin's sister, so I chose the same hair color than his."

"Edwin? Who's that?"

"He's my spy. Now, follow me, we're leaving," ordered Erza, tying a shawl around her head.

They left by using her private passageways. The sun was already setting down when they arrived in the town; men were lighting up the street lamp. Since magic disappeared, they had to use oil and fire; with this, people learnt to fear the night again, as it would be of a frightening pitch black. Still, many citizens were wandering in the streets by night; only the dark streets, the ones without any street lamp, were deserted. The temperatures by night were quite cold, for it was still Spring; it was a heavy contrast with the warm sun during the day –and she was thankful for that sun. If it hadn't been warm during the day, she and the King would probably have frozen to death in the river, back then. They were very lucky to be in the south; in the north of Edoras, snow was still covering the land.

Cobra seized her sleeve, pulling her towards him, and pointed a little stand.

"Hey, Knightwalker! Buy me one of these!"

"Huh?"

It was a stand of flowers, all kind of beautiful and colorful chrysanthemums. Erza blinked.

"You're kidding me, right?"

"I'm not! Why would I be?"

"What do you want to do with flowers?"

"Eat them, what else would you want me to do with them, anyway?"

She stared at him. She was about to bluntly refuse, when she remembered seeing Totomaru eating some flowers too. In their homeland, people did eat chrysanthemums. That was a bit weird, but she shrugged it off and actually bought him a few flowers. Cobra offered her a small, genuine smile and thanked her quietly, before starting to eat the flowers. It must have been heaven to him, after two years of jail food.

"That reminds me," he said after a moment of calm chewing, "In Rakuen the cherry tree must be in blossom. I'll be missing the festival again, a pity!"

"Maybe not," answered Erza with a smile.

He was following her, so he couldn't see her smile –that was the unique reason she had allowed herself to smile.

"Oh?"

"Yes," she explained, "the King of Edoras is supposed to visit all governors each year at springtime. Yet King Mystogan has not done so this year, so we will be going soon, I suppose."

"But Rakuen is –oh, right, you annexed it," grumbled Cobra, munching his chrysanthemums.

"Hurry up. We're almost there."

"Easy tiger. My body is still weak like a woman's."

She ignored his provocation and spotted the drugstore at the end of the street. She placed a big goofy grin on her face and pushed the door, which opened with a loud "ding!".

"Hi there!" she called in a high-pitched voice.

Cobra silently followed her. The drugstore was about to close, so no customers would be standing in the way anymore. A girl was tidying the place, deftly rearranging pots and bottles on the shelves. She turned over to greet them;

"Good evening! I'm sorry, but the store is about to close. Could you come back another time?"

Erza instantly recognized her. She could never forget that doll-face with big blue eyes and curly blonde hair, neither could she forget that annoying cooing voice. The words that Shoon had said about her and Mystogan were still printed in big, fat letters in her mind, and at this moment Erza craved for nothing more than the poison master's blood. She grinned wider, frightening Cobra who was standing next to her –he stepped back- and she stepped forwards, taking both Shoon's hands in hers and exclaiming in an excited voice;

"Oh Shoon, it is you! I'm so happy to see you again!"

"Huh?"

Shoon did not recognize her at once, for during the meeting she hadn't clearly seen Erza's face, but hearing her voice her face lit up.

"Rosie? Is it you? Oh my God oh my God oh my God! I can't believe it! You're here by chance?"

"Yes! Hubby and I" –she took Cobra by the arm, presenting him as her boyfriend, and he sent her an outraged glare- "are looking for medicine to…you know…"

"Oh…"

Shoon's smile became suggestive as she leant forwards, whispering to Erza in a confidential tone;

"I see…wanna come upstairs? I may have just what you want."

"You're a life-saver, Shoon!" exclaimed Erza, dragging Cobra behind her. She felt him flinch under her grip, and smirked at him. His eyes were truly frightened as he looked at her, and silently mouthed the words "You are a sadistic demon."

Shoon led them upstairs after having locked the front door. She did not know she was trapping herself by doing so, and Erza thought this thought absolutely delighting. As they entered Shoon's lab, a strong smell of drugs and sulfur filled their nose. Cobra's eyes pulsated as he recognized the different fragrances, being himself a poison master as well. Shoon closed the door and enthusiastically opened a cupboard.

"I've got many kinds of aphrodisiacs. Just tell me what you want exactly, and I'll give you the appropriate one! Do you want to be conscious?"

"Conscious?" repeated Erza.

She was taking off her mantle, and while doing so, reached for her dagger, hiding it under the mantle.

"Yes. I mean, they're the most powerful aphrodisiacs, but you won't remember what you did afterwards. Still, it is an amazing potent one!"

She searched throughout the bottles, showing her back to Erza.

"Um…I would prefer being conscious," said Erza, raising her dagger.

"Say, Miss Shoon, are you alone in that big drugstore?" asked Cobra in a purely conversational voice.

"Yes, I'm running this shop all by myself," answered Shoon, her voice muffled by the cupboard. "Then, Rosie, would you prefer –eh?"

She yelped as Erza bounced on her, seizing her right arm and pulling her out of the cupboard, before pushing her, hard, against the wall, a dagger firmly pressed against her throat and her arm bent in her back. The pain shooting in her arm made the girl yell, and she tried to free herself, thrashing around the most she could. But Erza's grip was made of iron, and she bent her arm harder. Shoon yelled, the tears flowing down her cheeks.

"What…what are you doing, Rosie? Aaaaah! Stop it! It hurts! It hurts! Please stop! Rosie!"

"Before we start our little conversation," said Erza in her hard voice, "this is for calling me a whore!"

-Snap!- Shoon's arm broke like a piece of glass. Ignoring the girl's yell of agony, Erza threw her on the floor, and pushed her foot in her stomach, hovering over the shivering girl. She smirked, taking off her shawl and wig in the same swift movement. The violent gesture ripped her bun's net, and her scarlet hair flew like a banner, whipping the air, before gushing down her back. The crimson locks falling on her forehead and right eye enhanced her dark, dangerous glare, and she smirked at the girl, whose big baby blue eyes widened in horror and recognition.

"I am Erza Knightwalker. Nice to meet you, Shoon Airvirrne."

Shoon's mouth trembled.

"You…you are…you were a traitor?"

"Wrong," answered Erza, pushing her foot harder into her belly, and the girl gasped. "_You_ are the traitor."

Sobbing, Shoon reached with her uninjured hand for Erza's dress, in a begging gesture.

"Please! Please have mercy! Grand General Knightwalker!"

Erza lifted her foot, only to crash it in the annoying doll face, staining it with blood and dirt. Then she leant over her and lifted her by her neck until she was at eye-level. She caressed her victim's cheek with her blade, drawing out more blood from the pearly white skin.

"Dear Shoon, yesterday a quite unfortunate accident happened. I'm sure you heard of it. I am curious to hear your explanation."

"I –I know nothing!" yelped the girl, her eyes wide with terror and pain.

Erza ripped apart her clothes, tracing big red gashes on the perfect white skin, before kicking her, hard, letting her crash against the wall. She rose her foot to hit her again, and Shoon lifted her arm, trying to protect herself, sobbing;

"Stop! Stop! I'm the one! I'm the one who provided the venom! Please! I beg of you! Stop!"

Erza crouched down, playfully tracing her tears with the point of her dagger.

"Now that's better. Who asked you to do this? And to whom have you delivered it? I want names and addresses. Spit it out!"

"I…I…I don't know!"

Erza raised her dagger and looked down at Shoon's body, her eyes stopping on her bra.

"Maybe I should cut these off," she crooned with a smirk. "How about it?"

"NO! Please! I really don't know! For both the order and the deliver, the coordinator Ken came to the shop! I don't know his full name; neither do I know where he lives! Please! I'm saying the truth!"

Erza did not doubt she was: Shoon was too afraid and in too much pain to be lying. But still, she hadn't finished having fun with her.

"I don't think you told us everything, Shoon-dear."

She drew the dagger against her bra. Growing mad of fear, Shoon thrashed, begging her to stop, but Erza stood up and violently kicked her in the belly again; the girl spat out blood.

Suddenly, Erza felt sick. Suddenly, a feeling of true horror filled her entire being and pulsated in her veins, and she stood unmoving, her eyes staring at the wall. She could only see Mystogan and his gentle smile, and hear his soft voice, and she felt as if she had stained his name by her unnecessary cruelty. She had always been uncaring and violent, but for the first time she actually felt remorse.

Mystogan was a very kind person. She had never seen him being unfair or mean to anybody here, even to the most disrespectful of his subjects. When trials happened, whatever was the crime, he never sentenced the accused to death, and he had firmly forbidden any kind of torture.

No matter how despicable Shoon had been, by torturing her like this Erza had not only failed her King, but also acted just like these traitors had. This was sick. This was unforgivable. Erza stepped back, tears gathering in her eyes. What had she done? She had promised Scarlet to respect life, and she had just stepped on it in the most sadistic way.

"You're done?" said Cobra's voice behind her, strangely low and calm.

"I…think she has nothing else to learn to us," said Erza, and her voice wavered.

She didn't even have the strength to look at him in the eye. She heard Cobra standing up from the table he had been leaning on, and he slowly knelt to Shoon's side, a serious look on his face. Erza did not miss the pity in his eyes, and the slight disgust deforming the corner of his mouth. He unsheathed his dagger and addressed the girl;

"Miss Shoon, I am very curious of how you managed to find venom from such a rare snake. Care to tell me?"

She panted, still spitting out blood, and gestured a back door with a trembling hand.

"I…have that particular snake…in there…I bought it from a stranger at the black market. No name. Please…"

Cobra nodded. He looked up at Erza.

"Unless you want to avenge the King or whatever, I'll finish her off," he said.

Avenge the King? The taste of vomit gathered in her throat, and she swallowed, fighting hard against her tears. Mystogan would never forgive her if she killed someone because of him. Killing assassins during a fight was something, but killing a defenseless girl was another: it was purely and simply a murder, no matter who the girl was. She had absolutely no right. She had no excuse. She was acting like a murderer.

"Please do," she murmured.

In a swift movement, so swift that Shoon did not have the time to understand what was going on, Cobra sliced her throat. No fear. No pain. Shoon instantly dropped dead.

Cobra stood up.

"You proud?"

"Huh?"

"I asked you if you were proud of yourself," he said, heading to the back door.

"…no, I am not," murmured Erza, and the tears poured out of her eyes and slid down her cheeks. Happily, Cobra was not looking at her; he was forcing the locked door's keyhole with his dagger.

"Good."

"What?" she asked faintly, wiping her tears with a trembling hand.

"Good to hear you're not a sick bastard. I seriously considered killing you back then. This' the last time?"

The door opened with a slight "click". Erza half-smiled, putting her hand on her aching chest, and answered in a whisper.

"Yes. It's the last time."

In her heart, Erza promised to never, ever disrespect life again. She promised to stop standing proud against her King, and instead to hold his name as her banner. She would never, ever stain his name again. For the first time, she accepted to let her heart feel, for it wasn't a weakness, but a real strength. Back then, when she fought Scarlet and watched her flying away, she had promised herself to protect Edoras and its people. She had thought she was respecting life by helping the kingdom to stand up again, but she had not realized that she had not been sincere. She had changed, little by little, but still had not understood Mystogan's kindness, had not understood it was Scarlet's as well.

She could not atone for her sins by serving the right King if she kept being like this; heartless, sadistic, and cruel.

"I'm sorry, Shoon," she murmured, looking at the unmoving, bruised and bloody corpse on the floor. "I'm sorry."

"Hey, Knightwalker!" called Cobra's happy voice from the next room, shaking her out of her thoughts. "Move your ass in here!"

She frowned, and, strengthening her stance, strode into the room. Cobra was standing in the back of the room, in front of big iron bars, and she gasped as she sighted the shape of a gigantic, purple snake, which was sticking its forked tongue at Cobra. An insane and overjoyed look on his face, Cobra was grinning like a madman, his arms around the snake's head and his forehead against his.

"What the Hell are you doing? Be careful, Cobra!" yelped Erza.

"It's him," answered Cobra in a voice trembling of emotion. "It's Cubellios! My dear friend Cubellios!"

"Shaah!" hissed the snake.

Erza could not believe her eyes! She was certain her own Legion had killed Cobra's dangerous, winged snake, so why was it here? Had it actually survived its fall in the forest and been captured by the men from the black market? This was truly incredible, and somehow, it seemed like a good omen. A real smile found its way on her lips, and she regretfully called Cobra back.

"Leave it here. I will send a squad tomorrow as for a case of murder. The soldiers will retrieve it then. I can even put you on this case if you want to."

"Yes, thanks!"

"Let's head back."

On the way back to the castle, Erza bought some more chrysanthemums and they shared it. While she was trying the flowers, chewing tentatively on the petals, Cobra spoke enthusiastically of his snake, telling her how he had found its egg and watched over it, then raised the little snake all by himself. His snake was the best of all; he was capable of sprouting wings, which made him even better than a Legion, and then he wondered if he still could sprout his wings as there were no magic anymore. As they changed back into normal clothes in Erza's bedroom, he asked her;

"By the way, I haven't seen any Legion at all. Where are they?"

"We couldn't keep them."

"Huh?"

"Legions can't be domesticated. They were bound to us by magic collars, I thought you knew that. And so, as a consequence, as soon as Edoras had lost its magic, all the Legions went back into the wild."

"Wow, that's really crappy."

The door opened suddenly, surprising the both of them, and Edwin entered, a panicked look on his face.

"General Knightwalker!"

Erza raised her hands.

"Hey! Calm down, Edwin! What is it? Did they test you out?"

"Yes, yes they did," answered swiftly Edwin. "I am part of the Silent Guard now, but that's not why I'm reporting to you now! They sent two assassins an hour ago! I'm sorry, I couldn't make it earlier, but-"

"Geez, easy, _swordy_, easy," cut him Erza, holding him by the arm. "The King's apartments are guarded by Rahal, there's nothing to fear."

"That still means the assassins could be in the castle right now," remarked Cobra.

"Yes," nodded Erza. "And we are going to chase after them. Edwin, go take some rest, you must not be seen in my company during your free time. Cobra, wait here."

She searched for her key and unlocked her chest, rummaged a little in it, and then handed him his katanas. Cobra's face lit up with a big grin. Erza took her spear and the both of them left her apartments, heading for the King's. They found Rahal standing with two guards in front of the main door.

"The Fairy Hunter and her snake. Why is it you visit so late?" inquired Rahal, pushing back his glasses on his nose.

"I received a report. Two assassins are supposed to be somewhere in the castle, and their target is the King. Who's guarding the garden door?"

"Hughes and a few soldiers. Everything is under control, Erza."

Erza smirked. She was feeling relieved, she had to admit. Now that the King was safe, she was not afraid anymore, and she was determined to search through the whole castle to find these two assassins. Then, Cobra said;

"You're guarding the garden door and the main door? What about the private passageway?"

Rahal frowned, feeling insulted, and said in a condescending tone;

"The private passageway is, as it is called, _private_. No one has access here."

"You all are being stupid. It is so easy to enter the passageway from the King's office or from the meeting room. Traitors have access everywhere, I thought you had understood that," snapped Cobra.

Acting on an impulse, all of a sudden panicked by Cobra's words, Erza pushed Rahal aside and opened the door, barging into Mystogan's living-room. She then ran to the bedroom door and knocked frantically on it, calling loudly;

"King Mystogan! King Mystogan, are you here?"

Rahal and Cobra entered behind her. Rahal was scolding;

"I'm telling you everything is under control, Erza! No one can enter the private passageway that easily; you do know that, you have one as well in your own apartments!"

"He isn't answering!" yelled Erza, and she lifted her foot, kicking open the locked door, breaking its hinges.

"Erza, are you insane!" shouted Rahal. "Stop!"

For a moment, Erza did think she _was_ insane. Her breath was stuck in her throat as she watched, horrified, the havocked bedroom of her King; the tapestries were ripped and stained with blood and the furniture destroyed. A corpse, probably one of the two assassins, was lying on the floor, a dagger stuck in his torso. She couldn't see Mystogan, neither could she see the second assassin, but she spotted a foot protruding from behind the bed, and she gulped.

The foot was pooling in an ever-growing pond of crimson blood.

_**To be continued!**_

...for those who may be wondering about it, there won't be any love triangle involving Cobra, Erza, and Mystogan. So cheer up! :D

_**And now, please review! ;)**_


	7. Dearest Cousin

_**King Mystogan**_

Hi everybody!

Ok, ok, I know. It's been, I've been told, like four months...I'm very, very sorry for the delay. Actually I'm not feeling very well (you can read my profile if you are concerned about me), so it was quite difficult to write. This chapter in particular, was a real ass! Mystogan is a very difficult character to write in my opinion, and what's more, I actually _had _to turn the murder attempt into a fight scene in the dark! Seriously, what a terrible idea! That was horribly difficult to write! Fights are already difficult to write to begin with, but fights you can't see? I had to describe it solely by what Mystogan heard and felt! O_o

**So this chapter may not be very good...and it's a bit short...but next one will be better, I promise!**

With that said, I have a few remarks about the manga and the anime.

First, I verified, it is not told anywhere if Erza K. did kill or not half of the Fairy Tail guild. The Fairy Tail edoguys said to Natsu that half of them were killed, but they did not say she was the one who did it. However, she says later on that she killed countless mages from FT. What I concluded from this is that I can assume in my story that she didn't kill half of the guild without really twisting up the manga.

Second, about the anime. I am sooooo desappointed. I don't understand why the guys doing the anime changed like, everything. I will not talk about the filler parts which are just srceaming "fillers!". However, I just don't understand why they changed the background. Like, the town, the forest...a lot of backgrounds just do not look like it was supposed to. Well, still, I was happy to see Mystogan again! And I was soooo glad to see Erza Knightwalker! Yeay! She totally rocks!

Hey, is it me but...had any of you guys guessed that Sugarboy would be _that_ ugly? Seriously! I almost vomited! He has a pink armor, for God's sake! And he's not wearing any pants! What the crap is that? Happily, in my fic, Mystogan has changed the uniform. It's a shame for Erza 'cause she was sexy in it, but for Sugarboy it's a real relief! Ouf!

Now I'll stop speaking to myself and get on with the story. Wait, first, I'm gonna answer to all your lovely reviews, and then I'll publish this chapter. Ah, and while I'm still speaking of reviews...**THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT**! I really appreciate it and I would have never succeeded in writing again without you all amazing people. I want also to thank **Wolfteam000** for her story, it always helps me to keep my inspiration. Go read it people, it's an awesome story!

...

Awww...there are people who don't sign in! But I will answer to you awesome people anyway! Here :

To** xXmegachompXx** : thank you so much! I just love cliffangers, so you'll see more of them!

To **XienRue** : thank you very much for your reviews. I'm very sorry I couldn't go on with the regular updates and I will most likely not be able to be regular for the next chapters either. I'm glad you like the story and hope you'll still like it! I also want to thank you for your concern, it helped me also because I am indeed not alright. So thanks and I hope you'll keep reviewing! :)

To **CoffeeCream101** : I loved your review, it was just so funny! Thanks a lot and I hope you'll like the update! :) See you!

To** Liux** : Hehe, I just love cliffhangers! And yeah, Mystogan can't catch a break, and actually, that's one of the most important points of the plot! Thank you for reviewing and sorry for not being able to update more often...I hope you'll like this chapter, there's some quality time with Erza! :D

To** ERZA X JELLAL LOVER** : Yeah, I also think it would be great if Mystogan would be jealous of Cobra! And actually, I think he is! :D

To** Midnight - Forever** : here, I'm updating! Sorry for being so long...Thanks a lot for your review, it warmed my heart! About Midnight, well...you'll see later! I could tell you in which chapter he's coming if you want, but that's spoilerrrrrrrrsss!

Wow, so many reviews! I still can't believe it! I wanna thank also the ones who put my story into their favs or/and their story alerts. Thank you guys!

Now, you guys can read! I hope you will like it. I'm sorry to say that I really don't know when I'll write the next chapter, you all will have to be a little patient...

**Disclaimer: **Hiro Mashima, thank you for your awesome manga that I obviously don't own!

**7. Dearest Cousin**

Mystogan knew it would be a bad day from the moment he opened his eyes and found himself in bed with little Coco snuggling against him. The girl was in her pink with little doggies pajamas and had apparently fallen asleep without even being aware of it, as she was half-sit on the duvet with a comic book in her hands. This did not please him at all; first, he almost had an attack seeing Coco here, and second, where on Earth was Erza?

And what's worse, when he woke Coco up, the girl actually told him that Erza had been taking care of Cobra. Then, Mystogan started to have a big headache, asked her to explain why Cobra was out of his cell, and ended up learning that not only that dangerous snake had been recruited, but had also slept in Erza's bedroom, and that really, really irked him.

And when after his breakfast he went into his living-room, expecting to have a talk with Totomaru, he almost bumped into none else than Erza. She bowed her head and saluted him as if everything was fine. But really, it wasn't. How could she act as if she hadn't abandoned him last night?

To add to his exasperation, Erza had the nerve to ask him if he was mad at her!

"Why would I be?" he answered her, trying to stay calm.

"Then why are you trying to get rid of me?"

The nerve of that woman!

"You're the one who's trying to get rid of me, Erza Knigthwalker. I seriously wonder why you even accepted to be my lover in the first place."

"You're speaking nonsense, your Highness. I slept with you last night, didn't I?"

That did it. Furious, Mystogan dismissed her, refusing to hear any more of her lame excuses –hearing Cobra's name in her mouth didn't help at all either- and he slammed the door in her face. Maybe he really was overreacting, or maybe he was just tired because of the poison, but he thought that it would fade with time and decided to ignore it. However, it did not, and the rest of the day was just plain Hell.

During the morning, he had an appointment with Guran, the chairman of the council; they were to discuss important matters together, but the old counselor had never been on his side and thus kept arguing with him on any decision. He even chastised him for the liberation of Cobra, which had entirely been Erza's decision!

In the afternoon, Mystogan called all the Generals to prepare the Annual Visit he had to pay to all governors of Edoras; of course, Erza did not come, and when he asked his messenger why, the guy answered nobody had dared disturb the Grand General in her training, because she really was scary. Apparently, Erza had been in a foul mood as well, and had even wounded a few of the soldiers she had been training. Mystogan decided to drop the matter and to let her do her training rather than ruin his preparation of the Annual Visit. But his preparations got ruined anyway, because within his Generals, only Totomaru would agree with him; Hughes, Sugarboy, Rahal, and Erigor were arguing over the slightest detail –Rahal because he was a maniac, and the three others because they only wanted to annoy him-. As for Lyon, who used to be on his side, he pestered him because Cobra had been freed while the Raijinshuu had not. Mystogan's headache grew bigger.

In the evening, a guild of rich merchants sent him a spokesman to protest against the taxes which violated the principles of free market. Just when he had finally succeeded in getting rid of the guy, counselor Bora accosted him -he was in charge of the Treasury Department, as Mystogan couldn't actually do everything by himself- and presented him a whole plan which involved earning money from slavery and saving money by annihilating all the public institutions he had established for the people's survival.

Therefore, when he was finally free of all these infuriating, egoistical, and greedy men, Mystogan rushed to his apartments, only to find Rahal and a soldier inspecting his living-room.

"May I ask what you are doing, General Rahal?" inquired Mystogan icily. God, how huge was his headache now!

"We are inspecting your apartments, Your Highness, to make sure no assassin would try to make an attempt on your life again."

"Well, hurry up. I don't like having you all here sticking your nose in my private stuff!"

A soldier came back from the bedroom.

"Everything is in order, General Rahal," he said, saluting.

"Good. We're leaving, Your Highness. If you find anything suspicious, I'll be at the main door and Hughes at the garden one."

They bowed and left, and Mystogan entered his bathroom to take a shower. The water running down his body always had a soothing effect on him, and he closed his eyes to relax and hum a sweet song Mirajane had sung long ago. He did not know for how long he stayed there, but, as he finally turned off the water and stepped out of the steaming shower, he heard the unmistakable sound of his concealed bedroom door being opened and closed. He wondered if Erza was paying him a visit, but quickly dismissed that thought; Erza wouldn't come unless he called her, and even if she did come, she would use the main door. So it had to be Coco; well, as long the girl didn't barge into the bathroom while he was dressing up, he was fine with it.

He tied the cord of his dressing-down around his waist and stuffed his feet into his slippers, yawning. He was feeling so tired that he could practically hear his bed calling him. He opened the door and entered his bedroom, slightly surprised to find the lights shut off.

"Coco?" he called uneasily, starting to walk to his bed.

Something was off. It was that kind of silence that seemed forced, that kind of silence which hid tensed bodies and concealed breathes. There was…

_There was someone here._

Mystogan immediately stepped back, intending to get back into his bathroom or to reach for the lamp, but the door suddenly slammed behind him, plunging the room into a total darkness. Fear rushed into his veins; turning over, he crossed his arms to protect himself and yelped when a blade slashed the sleeve of his right arm.

-Creak!_- _While blocking another blow, his buzzing ears caught the sound of the floor creaking slightly behind him.

_Oh God, there's two of them!_

It was time to fight back, and at once; he threw a kick to the first one, but the assassin quickly blocked it; the second one was just behind him, and Mystogan had to lean over to dodge the deadly dagger; swiftly reacting, he seized the wrist of the second assassin and twisted his arm, forcing the dagger into the assassin's body. When the assassin gasped and stumbled, he knew that he had reached his goal –his heart.

He didn't have the time to move. The first assassin pinned him to the floor, the dagger hitting the floor, slightly grazing his neck.

"Feeling relieved, are you, getting rid of him?" hissed the assassin. "Son of a bitch!"

His hand closed around his neck; without seeing it, Mystogan knew the dagger was rising again. He listened to the hissing song of the blade cutting through the air, before expertly raising his hands and stopping the dagger by circling the assassin's wrist; he tried to twist it or to force it back, but his opponent's strength was far more powerful than his. With both hands he could only stop the dagger, and the assassin laughed, tightening his hold on his prey's neck –Mystogan choked. Sinking his nails into the leather glove of the assassin, he gathered all his force into his leg, and suddenly gave a violent knee kick in the solid thigh that kept him pinned on the floor. For a second, the assassin's hold wavered –Mystogan let go of his wrist with one hand, punching him into the gut while giving another knee kick; with a gasp, the assassin rolled over.

Mystogan gasped for oxygen, massaging his sore neck, and stumbled back, but he was blocked by the corpse. Standing on shaky legs, he tried to escape, but that had not been enough to beat the assassin; a horrible pain burst into his knee when the murderer kicked him; it was as if his knee bone had exploded, and he had to hold on to the wall he had been thrown on to prevent himself from falling down.

Another blow from the assassin ripped the tapestry as the young king avoided it; then, he could hear the hiss again of the dagger before it cut through the poor tapestry. He managed to dodge the kicks, the punches, and the blade for a few minutes –he knew then that his tapestry was totally ruined, but actually he couldn't care less right now. His knee was still throbbing, but it was better than before –it wasn't broken or twisted, thank God!

"You're good at fleeing, Jellal," mocked the assassin. "Why don't you call your little guards?"

The assassin had made a mistake –never talk to the prey, for it would give on his position. Ignoring the provocation -the walls of his chambers were soundproof, there was no way Rahal or Hughes could hear him anyway-, Mystogan attacked; kick, kick, punch, grab –ah, he caught the unarmed arm of the enemy. In a swift movement, he crashed the assassin against the wall, but felt at once the resistance in the enemy's body –the hit had barely hurt him. The dagger ripped through the sleeve of his dressing-gown, missing his heart by a few inches; a foot locked around his ankle and pulled on it, making him stumble.

_Ouch! _This thing that dug into his back had to be a chair; he seized it and managed just in time to make a shield of it as the assassin brutally broke it into pieces. Mystogan fell on the floor, panting, fumbling for something, anything, to throw at him or to shield himself –_nothing_!

Panic rushed into him as he felt the murderer move again in pitch-black ink; his ears buzzing in the deafening silence, Mystogan desperately tried to catch any noise from his assailant, but the only sound he heard was the ripping of his own clothes when the dagger slashed again through it. He leaped back in a swift reflex, barely feeling the weapon on his skin; however, he did feel the hard wood on his spine when his back hit his bed. Acting purely on instinct, Mystogan rolled on his side –he heard the assassin's foot hit violently the floor, a few centimeters away from him, and then the deadly hissing sound of the dagger…

_Got you!_

He swept the assassin's foot with a violent kick, making his enemy stumble, hit the bed, and spit out a thread of colorful curses; digging his knee into his back, Mystogan forced him on the floor, seized his right arm and twisted it in his back, attempting to remove the dagger from his clenched fist, but the murderer thrashed around so madly he knew it was only a matter of time before he succeeded in freeing himself from him.

"Son of a bitch!" yelled the assassin with fury.

It was getting more and more difficult to hold on. Now that he had him pinned on the floor, Mystogan could feel the shape of his opponent: the guy wasn't taller than him, but was large and muscular, and most certainly overpowered him in brute strength. Mystogan hissed with annoyance as he felt his own muscles protest against the effort –and then with one second, only one second of wavering from the young king, the assassin broke free, his foot thrusting into Mystogan's stomach, making him hit the wall in spit out blood.

_Shit!_

The assassin bounced. Mystogan ignored his throbbing stomach and leapt forward. In this entirely dark room, he actually blocked the other's legs with his knee, blocked the arm holding the dagger, and with his free elbow aimed for his face, instantly breaking the assassin's nose.

The blade ripped again through his dressing-gown; he stepped back, and raised his leg, sending a harsh kick in the armed wrist that was coming again. The assassin yelled as his bones snapped out of their place and his own dagger launched itself in his own throat. The yell ended in a disgusting gurgling; the corpse fell down on the floor, soon pooling it with blood.

Mystogan breathed and let himself slide down the wall.

_I killed him. Shit, shit, shit…_

He had always been one of the strongest of the guild, capable of trashing anybody who would dare threaten Fairy Tail; he had even wiped out all the little guilds that had supported Phantom. However, he hated to kill and always avoided it whenever he could. His strongest magic wasn't a harming one, it was one of slumber –that alone summarized his thinking. He was a pacifist and he hated wars, tears and blood.

Mystogan leant his chin on his knees, circling his legs with his arms. Yet again…he had killed. He had killed two men in a row.

His gloomy musings were interrupted by a frantic banging on his door and the loud voice of Erza Knightwalker, who yelling her lungs out;

"King Mystogan! King Mystogan, are you here?"

Surprised, he lifted his head. He heard the muffled voice of Rahal, but didn't have the time to answer as Erza yelled again;

"He isn't answering!"

CRASH! A burst of light rushed into the room as the door cracked open under Erza's fierce kick, and the Fairy Hunter barged in while behind her Rahal was shouting to her to stop.

Mystogan blinked. Because of the obscurity, he couldn't see her face, but he could distinguish her frame and he noted that she was wearing her stealth clothes. He heard her gasp, horrified, as she took in the havocked bedroom of her king. For the first time, he realized just how ruined was his bedroom: the furniture was destroyed and the tapestries were ripped and stained with his own blood –he had a few light injuries on his arms that bled. The first corpse was lying on the floor, its own dagger stuck into its torso. The second corpse, much more muscular than what he had guessed, was sprawled in front of him, its foot protruding from behind the bed.

The foot and the pool of blood was probably the only thing Erza could see, as after a few seconds of complete freezing, Erza rushed to the bed, letting an anguish cry leave her throat;

"Oh God please no, no, no!"

That shocked him even more and he remained silent, watching her as she walked around the bed. He absolutely did not expect her to jump back with a shrill girly yell –_Aaah!_-, and neither did Rahal, Cobra and the soldiers as they barged into the bedroom, bringing a lantern to lighten it.

Mystogan stood up, his heart still beating fast from the surprise.

"**You scared me!**" both Erza and him exclaimed at the same time.

Standing next to a still pale Rahal, Cobra burst out laughing. Erza put a hand on her heart, breathing deeply before snapping;

"Why didn't you say anything? Why didn't you move? Seriously, you were scary!"

"How scary is that?" retorted Mystogan impatiently while little Coco, who had apparently been informed, was taking his ruined dressing-gown off. "It's not as if _I_ were the one with the slit throat!"

Erza stepped forward and seized his arm, lifting it without any gentleness to examine his injuries.

"You're hurt, King Mystogan."

"This is nothing, it barely burns." He looked up to glare at Rahal, who stood still behind Erza, a scared look on his usually haughty features. "General Rahal," he called in a hard voice.

Rahal flinched, his skin paling even more, and he bowed his head.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness! Because of my mistake…" His voice broke. His shame was so crystal clear that Mystogan did not have the heart to reprimand him. Even Cobra had shut up, a grave look on his tanned face.

"Stand up, Rahal," said Mystogan in a softer voice. "Everybody makes mistakes; just make sure it doesn't happen again."

"Thank you, Your Highness," whispered Rahal, his voice wavering.

Coco was bandaging his injuries, Erza standing next to her, a burning fire in her eyes.

"You killed them both," she remarked.

He nodded.

"I know, it was a mistake as well."

"No!" she snapped, startling him. "That wasn't what I meant! You killed both of them, while ambushed, while in the dark, while unarmed! How did you do that?"

"I am not a weakling," he said simply.

He knew she was only being sincere, but her words did hurt him a little. Even if she had never seen him actually fight -apart from that night when they had sparred by mistake-, he was still _Mystogan_, one of the top-mages of Fairy Tail, the one who had been closing animas all around Earthland during seven years. Surely she couldn't believe he would only rely on his magic, could she? Especially in Earthland, where, contrary to him, his opponents were not limited in magic. He knew he should have felt happy that admiration was showing in her voice and eyes, but he couldn't. It only made him realize how much she had despised him.

"Your Highness," asked Rahal, his composure back, "Where do you want to sleep while we fix your bedroom?"

"Don't fix it. I don't want to sleep in this room anymore. The blood will never go away."

He looked at Erza and smirked.

"I'll stay in General Knightwalker's quarters for a few days. It's enough time for you to arrange new apartments for me."

A shocked silence dulled the bedroom for a minute. Then, Rahal asked dryly;

"I beg your pardon?"

Surprisingly, Erza did not protest. She seemed a bit startled and nervous, but nodded and led her king to her own apartments. She sent Cobra to General Totomaru, as she couldn't keep him in the same place than the king. Apparently her cat did not like Mystogan, and she disappeared God knows where. Erza and Mystogan stood awkwardly in her bedroom, the only sound being the crackling fire in the fireplace. Then, she asked;

"Er…do you want to stay with General Knightwalker or with Erza?"

"Isn't it obvious?" he mocked her.

She frowned, her lip curling in what could have been a pout if she hadn't been so ice-looking.

"You said _General Knightwalker_ to Rahal_._ You told me yesterday that you would call me Erza only when you don't need me as a General. Be logical, King Mystogan."

"I couldn't call you Erza in front of them, it would have been-"

"Normal," cut Erza. "Am I your lover or not? You have to recognize it officially, my King, or it will only bring harm to your reputation."

"_Fine!_" he snapped. "I'll do it! But right now, I'm just tired! Can we go to sleep, _please_!"

It wasn't a plead, it was an order, and it displeased her. However, in his current state, Mystogan really did not want anything else than a good sleep. He was exhausted, still feeling nervous and in danger, and couldn't forget the smell and the color of the blood on his floor. He needed time to digest this incident, and he really did not want to be bothered by such trivial things.

The next morning, the royal doctor came to check on him, and advised him to stay in bed for the day.

"Your stomach may be more hurt than you think, Your Highness, I would prefer you to remain lying down. What's more, you've been stressed and surely a bit scared by this attempt. It would be better for your nerves to stay in a calm environment."

Mystogan agreed, but he soon got bored as Erza had left for her training session. He decided to have some work done and called Coco, asking her to bring back his paperwork from his office.

The day passed by quietly; he had lunch with Coco and counselor Ur in Erza's living-room, and got on with his work all the afternoon. He had made himself confortable on Erza's bed, and papers were covering the floor and the bed, neatly classified in piles. He was lying on his stomach, a long quill in his hand, and he had put his inkpot right on Erza's pillow. It was a comfortable position, and he chose the same one after supper. He had taken a shower already, and dressed up for the night, but couldn't let go of his work; it was the only thing that kept his mind clear and strong, and distracted his thoughts from his doubts, his nightmares and his fears.

Working gave him the feeling he was actually doing something for Edoras, while watching his court and speaking to his counselors only made him angry and wary. Not to mention these murder attempts…

He frowned, staring at the paper in front of him. What the crap was that? He had specifically ordered these kinds of requests to be turned down. He did not even want to see them!

The door opened and he heard Erza enter. He had only caught a glimpse of her at dinner, but he was too absorbed by the damn paper to stop and welcome her. However, she did not let him ignore her;

"Just what do you think you're doing?" she cried out, throwing her armor on the floor in a loud metallic racket. She seemed outraged; maybe because of the inkpot on her pillow. But he was in a foul mood as well.

"Working," he snapped. "I don't want my work to pile up while I'm bedridden."

"You could have done so on my desk! This is my bed! I don't care if you're the King, you will get out of my bed or I'll kick you out!"

"Make me," he answered, scratching something on a paper.

He was glaring at his paper, and frowning, and biting his lower lip in his annoyance, and he could feel her staring at him. He heard her sigh, then strip down and put on her nightgown, and he turned back his attention to his paper, concentrating on the damn thing. Then, he felt a ghostly touch stroking its way down his back.

"Stop that," he growled, without looking at her.

She didn't stop, and he started when she reached his rear. His head shot up, looking daggers at her.

"What are you…?"

Erza kissed him, hard, gently but firmly pushing him so he would roll on his back. On the way, he did knock out the inkpot and scatter all the papers, and she sat on his pelvis, hands on each side of his head, staring at him right in the eye.

"You stained my bed with ink, Your Highness. And you are to be punished."

"You have no shame, do you?" he groaned, watching her in a lazy way. He didn't really feel like resisting to her, and he had noticed how, even in her angered mood, she had been cautious not to hurt his injured stomach.

"None at all. I have rights to be proud of my body, I think," smirked Erza.

"I cannot deny that," he whispered in her ear. He had to admit that her short nightgown, hugging her gorgeous body, was quite exciting to him.

He had almost succeeded in concealing his husky voice, when Erza reached for his thighs, caressing the sensitive flesh of their inside, which successfully sent a delicious shiver of pleasure into his whole body. He embraced her, cautiously closing his arms around her waist, and kissed her ear. She showed absolutely no restraint in the way she touched him; it was as if she truly possessed him, and that embarrassed him even more.

He wasn't a shy person, but he was the kind of person who preferred staying by himself and watching from afar. He liked having a few close friends by his side, but he had never been one for cuddling, having never received that kind of affection before –not even from his mother, who as a queen, had never truly mothered him. Therefore, Erza's exploration not only was new and unsettling to him, but also was a bit frightening, as she unveiled sensations he did not know from his own body.

He always felt like dominating her; this want still flared in his guts, but he was so impressed by her that he actually became shy whenever he had to talk to her in an intimate way. He was far more at ease sparring with her than trying to touch her –what if she didn't appreciate it? Erza was not the kind of person who liked to be dominated. Maybe she didn't even want him to explore her body. After all, she did not act as his lover at all…

A hot, moist pair of soft lips gave a feathered kiss on his nape; a violent shiver shot into his spine, and a moan left his lips before he could stop it. Erza chuckled, her mouth still on his sensitive skin, her breath tickling his ear.

"My, my…is that your sweet spot?"

"Sweet…spot?" repeated Mystogan, breathless. He had always thought that only women had one.

"Uh-huh", crooned Erza, before kissing him right on that spot again.

To his embarrassment, he moaned. It was quiet and soft, but enough for Erza to hear him and to continue torturing him with butterfly kisses. He finally succeeded in pushing her away, his cheeks burning.

"Stop, Erza! What's with you tonight?"

"You were endearing and I was horny."

His eyes widened.

"_Horny_? Well I'm not! Let me work!"

"Liar," crooned Erza, and to emphasize her word, she pressed herself against him, and he knew by then that he could not hide his want anymore. Still, he tried to protest.

"This doesn't –aaah!" Damn that sweet spot! Erza had thought amusing to give him a hickey right there, and had accompanied this torture with grazing caresses up his thighs.

It was at this moment that the town bell rang; a happy racket soon spread through the city, relayed by the bells of the castle, and Erza froze, lifting a hand in a "shush" gesture.

"What's going on?" Mystogan groaned, cursing his bad luck.

Erza jumped out of bed and rushed to the curtains, pulling them in a fierce way and pushing the window open, the wind instantly playing with her scarlet hair and her short nightgown. As much as Mystogan enjoyed the sight, he still wished they hadn't been interrupted. However, her look changing from alert to pure delight made him change his mind, and he sat up. Her eyes turned to him, holding an expression he had never seen in her, and she smiled to him, truly and genuinely;

"You should have a look, Your Highness!"

Mystogan joined her and held his breath; in the biggest alley of the town, the people were gathering, their cries of joy and cheers echoing in the night. They had lit many torches, and in this path of fire a cortege was making its way to the castle, the red and black banners proudly flowing in the wind. Mystogan's heart hammered in his chest as he recognized the black crow painted on the banners;

"Gardamonde…" he whispered. "It's Simon! Oh dear Lord, it's Simon!"

He hastily arranged his clothes and rushed to the door, but Erza stopped him, yelling;

"Wait, my king! You can't go unescorted! I'll be ready in a minute!"

He couldn't wait and was pacing, not even glancing at her while she was dressing up again.

"It's Simon! It's Simon, finally! How come he's here so soon? I thought he wasn't coming until tomorrow or the day after tomorrow! How is it that…"

"Oh for God's sake, shut up!" snapped Erza, opening the door.

Mystogan wasn't listening to her; not even paying attention to her, he rushed through the corridors while she tried to catch his pace. He felt like flying; the joy he felt was overflowing him and it was only a matter of minutes before he arrived to the throne room, where Rahal was already giving orders.

Rahal bowed respectfully;

"Your Highness, the Duke of Gardamonde has arrived. Are you going to meet him this late?"

"Of course I am! What do you think I'm here for, General Rahal?"

Rahal bowed again and went back to giving orders. Soon, the room was filled with most people from the court, some of them a bit sleepy and disheveled, but all of them feeling excited, for Duke Simon had been gone for a whole year!

The great door opened and two guards entered, bowing, one of them announcing in a clear voice;

"The conqueror of the southern seas, coming back after a whole year, having defeated the pirates beyond the Marvell Cape in unknown and dangerous seas! Tonight the Corsair Prince is coming back to present his King his respects! Your Highness, Milords, Miladies, the Duke of Gardamonde!"

The two guards stepped aside, and the corsairs entered, all dressed in oriental tunics over their marine uniform, their sabers hanging from their large and decorated belts on their side, their skin tanned by the sun and the harsh salty wind; their eyes held a piercing stare and their hair was long, sometimes even braided. Two of them held the Gardamonde banner, and Mystogan recognized Shou among them.

Behind the proud group, a tall and muscular figure was standing, all clad in oriental black robes. He was wearing the Gardamonde banner as a tunic over his robes, covering his left shoulder and his strong torso to his knees, both clothes held by a white waistband on which a large chiseled saber was strapped. His head was wrapped in a white turban, which ends hanged in his back.

The court acclaimed the Duke as he walked his path to the throne. Mystogan remained frozen, utterly shocked; he couldn't recognize his cousin in this stronger and taller grown-up man. Simon and he had always been about the same height, Mystogan being most of the time the taller of the two. Both of them had had baby-shaped faces with hair a bit long and big eyes; this man had short brown hair, black intelligent eyes, a handsome face perfectly shaped –he looked nothing like Mystogan. He was strong, mature, manly, while everything in Mystogan still seemed soft and childish.

An awkward silence settled when Simon reached the throne. The court was waiting for the King to speak, but Mystogan was mute. He didn't know what to say, and suddenly he felt little and intimated by the Duke. The look in Simon's eyes was unwavering and fierce, about as merciless as Erza's, and Mystogan began to fear that his cousin may still resent him for their dispute back then, when he had departed for Earthland.

Seeing that Mystogan wasn't going to speak, Simon bowed respectfully and declared in a deep voice –the voice of a leader, thought immediately Mystogan;

"Your Highness, I, Duke Simon of Gardamonde, came to present you my respects and officially recognize Your Majesty as my King, the new King of Edoras. And I am proud to announce my King that today the pirates of the southern seas are no longer a threat to our Kingdom of Edoras. I have brought back their Leader as a prisoner to have him judged for his crimes."

Mystogan's throat was dry, and he gulped down in an attempt to moist it. But whereas his mind was twirling with words, none of them reached his mouth. Feeling more and more nervous, Mystogan looked away from Simon's fierce eyes, but that was a mistake: he became suddenly very aware of the numerous eyes watching him, of the whole court waiting for him to speak up, the hostility and mockery in many of their glare. Instantly, Mystogan's composure crashed, leaving him disoriented and panicking.

But as soon as he had wavered, he composed himself back, reassembling his strength in his heart, his strong will refusing to lose against the pressure his court was always cruelly putting on him.

"Duke Simon of Gardamonde," he finally announced, standing up. "In the name of Edoras, I thank you for your hard work. Your victory will be celebrated as it merits. I am very fortunate to wish you today…"

He paused to prevent his voice from trembling; his heart was hammering at an insane speed in his chest, and his mind couldn't remember the words he was saying. He only hoped that they were making sense. Taking in a deep breath, Mystogan concluded;

"Welcome back to Edoras, Duke Simon. Welcome back home."

The court cheered and relief washed through him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Erza gently touching his elbow to calm him down, and he appreciated the gesture. General Rahal then announced that the meeting was over and the court reluctantly dispersed. As soon as they were alone, Erza hurried down the stairs of the throne and hugged Simon in a short manly embrace.

"Simon! I missed you so much!"

Simon's laugh resonated in the throne room, warm and powerful, and he patted Erza's shoulder in a brotherly way.

"Good to see you again, Erza! You've become so lively and pretty!"

Erza blushed while Mystogan kept standing alone before his throne, not sure of how he had to greet his cousin. He felt like a complete stranger, and that pained him so much that he did not trust his voice at that moment. He felt humiliated and pathetic, and so tired to struggle against everybody, that he suddenly wished very hard to be back to Fairy Tail, where he had always been confident and powerful, and where people respected and loved him.

But then Simon joined him, his black eyes completely different from before; they now held great warmth and joy, and finally, Mystogan recognized his dear cousin.

"May I hug you…Jellal?" asked Simon, his voice now a bit unsure.

For a moment Mystogan was silent, his mind dizzy with happiness. Then a smile lit his strained face and he answered in a soft whisper, his voice almost breaking from the emotion;

"Please…please do, Simon."

Simon crossed the last meters separating them and held him close against him –he was so tall and strong that Mystogan felt as if he had turned back into a child again. It was incredibly soothing and comforting.

"I'm so happy to see you again, Jellal, you can't even imagine! All these years I thought you were dead…I thought I had lost my dearest cousin. And to think now you're the King! So much have changed…"

"Yes," murmured Mystogan, the tiredness of weeks of stressful events kicking in fast, "so much have changed…"

"I heard you were having a hard time with all these old idiots, I was so worried! You know what? I'll totally kick their scrawny asses! I was so scared and angered when I learned about the last attempts! That's why I arrived tonight; I hurried as much as I could up here. Jellal, I am not going to leave you alone anymore, never. It's a promise; I'm not leaving you alone."

Then something snapped in the young king; all the fear, the stress, the insecurity, the pain, and the loneliness he had hold in locked in his heart, all these violent emotions overcame him, and he found himself smiling, hot tears gathering in his eyes.

"Thank you," he breathed, "thank you so much for being here…dearest cousin…"

**To be continued...**


	8. The Bakeneko

Hi everybody! It's been such a long time, hasn't it?

I'm sorry for the delay, really. I'll try updating more often but I cannot promise it will be regular because I am still not feeling well. I will however answer to your nice reviews next time. Btw, THANK YOU SO MUCH you all for your reviews, it helped me A LOT. And when I say a lot, I mean it. Really. Thanks also to those who put me into their alerts/favs.

Now, this chapter is more like...a lot of explanations about stuff. I don't really like that chapter apart from the flashback and the ending, but I enjoyed nonetheless making Erza interact with Cobra. Cobra's actually my favorite, I think. Dunno why. But I promise there will be more lovey-dovey stuff in the next chapter. So yeah, keep reading!

**Disclaimer: **_Fairy Tail_ is all Hiro Mashima's property. And I love him for this, because seriously, I was afraid the timeskip would destroy everything but since that timeskip there wasn't a single chapter that didn't surprise me. Mashima-sensei, you're a genius! Thank you so much for writing that manga!

* * *

**8. The _Bakeneko_**

The harbour was bright with colors, happy cheers, and people waving at the _Bakeneko_ as the magnificent ship slowly slipped through the waves, making her way to the sea, her figurehead -a black demon cat- happily piercing through the mist.

"Long live the King!"

"Have a safe trip!"

And with this, the Annual Visit begun. Erza smiled as the grave figures of Counselor Ur and General Rahal standing on the port became smaller and smaller. Behind them, the Captains - Sugarboy, Hughes, Erigor, Doranbolt- were still standing in a military stance, sending them their last salutations. Behind the army, the people were gathering and chattering with excitement.

"Don't worry!" yelled back General Lyon, making Erza cover her ear because he was just next to her, "With the power of love, we will keep the King safe!"

Erza and Counselor Sherry simultaneously sighed; Lyon was just damn too annoying. As the harbour began to fade behind veils of fog -for it was still very early in the morning-, Lyon turned back his attention to his beloved Lady Sherry, who simply ignored him and went back into talking with Counselor Vidaldus. Dejected, Lyon turned to Erza before she had the time to retreat.

"General Knightwalker, I've been wanting to have a few words with you."

"Really? I think that can wait, I've got much to do," replied dryly Erza.

She already knew what he wanted to talk about and certainly did not want to give into his request. But Lyon was persistent.

"General Knightwalker! I do know you are rather sensitive on that particuliar subject, but this matter has to be discussed!"

"I will not discuss this matter any further. The Raijinshuu is a bunch of criminals, and thus they will remain in jail. Now if you would excuse me, General Lyon…"

"So it is okay to free the criminal Cobra on a whim, but not the Raijinshuu?"

"Cobra was only a prisoner of war, nothing more. The Raijinshuu are real criminals."

"You are being stubborn, Grand General!" snapped Lyon, his eyes narrowing. "King Mystogan already established that the Guilds were legal and were wronged by King Faust, so it is obvious that all mages put to jail were wrongly accused."

"The Raijinshuu killed the former Grand General," hissed Erza. "Don't you dare forget it again!"

With these last words, she stomped off the deck, furious. She did not want to think of such matters anymore. It only raised anger and pain in her chest, and conflicted thoughts. The death of the Grand General had played a great part in her hatred towards Fairy Tail. The former Grand General had been the one who had trained her as a soldier. She knew that he had been a heartless man, whose only cause of living was the glory of Edolas. He had blindly obeyed to every single orders of King Faust, and he had led the army countless times and conquered all the little neighboring kingdoms that now were part of Edolas. But she still owed him so much, that she could not discard everything aside and blame him. She could not think of the Raijinshuu as anything else than bloody criminals.

"Pissed off, are you?" sniggered a voice behind her. "Not that it changes much from the usual."

Why did Cobra have to constantly follow her everywhere? She glared at him as he arrogantly walked by her side.

"Why are you following me around? I gave you back your katanas, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but it's so much fun to annoy you," smirked Cobra.

"Well, go and annoy Lady Ultear, will you? I'm not in the mood to deal with your shit!"

Cobra looked back at the deck, spotting Ultear all dressed up in a stealth attire. Another woman with long braided pink hair was standing next to her, dressed in the same way. Erza could almost picture what was going on in Cobra's mind as she watched his eyes lit up while traveling around the curvacious body of the pink-haired woman.

"Who's that chick next to the Ultear-bitch?" he asked, grinning.

So predictable. But that was the golden occasion to get him off her back, so Erza answered graciously;

"That's Meredy, Lady Ultear's best friend and subaltern. Ultear's very protective of her, so be careful."

Challenging Cobra was the best way to send him right where she wanted him. And actually, Cobra happily took the bait and stormed off, making his way to the two women -annoying the Hell of Ultear and have a closer look to the gorgeous Meredy? No way he was missing such an opportunity!

Erza sighed with relief. God, was she good! Sending both Lyon and Cobra away! She hummed to herself as she went back to the cabin she was sharing with Counselor Sherry. As she sat down on her bed, she thought of Simon. The Duke of Gardamonde had not only brought back prisoners from his fight with the pirates; he had also brought back a lot of knowledge, and what's more, troublesome knowledge. She still find hard to believe everything he had said. But, well, learning about a parallel world such as Earthland had been difficult to understand as well, and she still had accepted it nonetheless. However Simon raised a lot of problems concerning the future, and she could not help feeling apprehensive and maybe a little bit scared -not that she would ever admit that.

She closed her eyes and breathed in.

_"Here's Edolas, right?"_

_Simon poked the map, right on the large letters ~EDOLAS~, then he pointed at the thin, long scrape of island that bordered the map._

_"And here's Eien, King Azuma's kingdom. Well, all this is bullshit."_

_The counselors murmured, frowning at the duke's crude speaking. Erza couldn't help smiling at this. The council was sitting at their meeting table, King Mystogan presiding it, and the Duke had come to report. The large map was currently lying on the table, its names turned towards the King._

_Behind Erza, Cobra was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed over his torso, and engaging a glaring contest with Ultear, who was standing next to her mother, the counselor Ur. Simon took a piece of chalk and began drawing his road on the map._

_"We departed from Gardamonde, here, in the South. The pirates had pillaged Traia, so naturally they had to pass by Gardamonde's bay before heading down to the southern seas. We left with three warships and six battleships; the _Bakeneko_ was commanded by myself and lieutenant Shou."_

_Behind Simon, Shou bowed his head in salutation. Simon got on, presenting the other captains;_

_"The _Cubic_ was commanded by Captain Hoteye and lieutenant Wally."_

_Two strangely cubic-shaped persons bowed, and Simon concluded;_

_"The last warship was the _Trimens_, commanded by Captain Hibiki and lieutenant Eve. Unfortunately, we lost her; we don't know if she has sunk or not. The last time we had contact with her, she was pursuing the _Blue Pegasus_, a fast pirateship commanded by the notorious Captain Ren. Over the six battleships, we lost three of them, two during battles, and the last during a sudden storm. However" –Simon raised his voice as the counselors began to murmur with discontentment- "we destroyed seven pirateships and captured two of them. We made many prisoners, including the famous lead pirate Captain Jura."_

_Then Simon traced his road with the piece of chalk, following the west coast of East Edoras, all down to the south, and stopped at the Marvell Cape, that faced Eien's Cape._

_"We passed the Marvell Cape and sailed in King Azuma's seas. Then we passed Eien's Cape, here…"_

_Erza leant over the table, watching closely. She somehow wished she would have been there as well, in these unknown seas. The counselors began to protest as Simon started drawing islands on the table._

_"And this is why our maps are crap. We Edolians were presumptuous," called Simon, his strong voice covering the racket. "_Edolas_ is not _Edo_; Edolas, as was Extallia, is only a piece of Edo. Here in the East, King Azuma's kingdom isn't only consisting of small Eien; it is spreading over a whole archipelago of islands and floating isles! We also learnt that beyond King Azuma's seas, more kingdoms exist, and more floating isles. Edolas was not Edo's center."_

_"How interesting," said Mystogan, raising his voice from the first time since the beginning of the meeting. "Do you mean the world was much bigger than what we thought it was, Duke Simon?"_

_"Yes, Your Highness. However, it does seem that Edolas is one of the biggest kingdoms of Edo."_

_"Then, it is fortunate that we are concluding the Annual Visit by our most recent conquered land, Rakuen. I would like to watch Eien's moves by myself."_

_Rahal stood up, holding a pile of documents._

_"May I summarize the Annual Visit, then, Your Highness?"_

_"Wait," cut Erza, frowning."How is it that the Annual Visit was planned without me?"_

_"Well," replied Rahal in a stern voice, "We did summon you, General Knightwalker, but you seemed to be too busy with your soldiers, so-"_

_He stopped when he saw her glaring her black stare at him, her cold fury raising as she heard Cobra's chuckle in her back. Sitting next to her, Hughes murmured something that sounded like an "amazing!". Rahal cleared his throat and announced;_

_"The Annual Visit usually starts by Traia province. Then we head to Gardamonde, where we embark and sail to Western Edolas. We deck at Sycca's harbor, and head towards Louen later on. We head south from Louen and pass by the desert, until we reach Sacral province. At Grayis harbor, we reembark and sail to Eastern Edolas. We deck at Arena harbor and head east to Rakuen province. From Rakuen, we go through the Four Mountains valley and thus head back to the Royal City."_

_"That's a Hell of a tour," snickered Cobra under his breath, so as only Erza could hear him._

_She couldn't more agree, and stood up._

_"King Mystogan, I understand how important is the Annual Visit of our provinces. However, such a tour would take months to complete. It can barely remain as an Annual Visit then."_

_"That's because we lost our control over our Legions," said Sugarboy. "If not, a few weeks would be enough to complete this tour. You are right, General Knightwalker. It seems a very risky thing to do, especially with all those attempts on His Majesty's life…"_

_The counselors protested at once, denying the danger in which the King was. This made Erza furious, but she kept her anger locked in her heart, molding it in her infamous glare; Erza Knightwalker had always been all cold fury. Sugarboy raised his voice to make them shush;_

_"…that's why this time, the Annual Visit will be cut in two."_

_Erza raised an eyebrow and turned to Rahal, who sighed, pushed back his glasses on his nose and got on;_

_"Yes, as I was going to say before I got interrupted, it is for now impossible to make a complete Annual Visit each year. That's why, we decided with the King to only visit Eastern Edolas this year. The Annual Visit will thus start by sailing to Traia province, then to Gardamonde, and to Arena harbor before heading east by mount to Rakuen province. From Rakuen, we will go through the Four Mountains valley and head back to the Royal City."_

_The Council approved, and King Mystogan raised from his chair to cancel the meeting. Before she had a chance to leave, he added;_

_"Counselor Ur, Generals Rahal, Totomaru, and Knightwalker, please stay. We have something to discuss with Duke Simon."_

_Curious, Erza sat back, and nodded to Cobra, allowing him to stay. As the counselors left the place, and the other generals sent envious stares to the remaining generals, Simon sent back the Captain Hoteye and his first mate Wally, only keeping his own first mate Shou. Mystogan sat back, and Simon sat next to him, in the seat the Chairman had left. Shou stood behind him._

_"So? What's this all about?" interrogated Erza._

_"How impatient, my dear Erza," smiled Simon._

_"Cut the etiquette crap, Simon. I know that you didn't ask for a private meeting just for the fun of it," replied coldly Erza._

_Simon watched her with serious eyes before turning towards Mystogan._

_"Jellal, I heard that Lord Dragneel stole Edolas' magic one year ago. Since then, all magic disappeared and the floating islands collapsed into the sea, or, for the unlucky ones, on the land. This is what all people believe, right?"_

_"Yes. Go on," replied Mystogan in a tense voice._

_Erza smirked. In this room, they all knew that he was the one, and not Lord Dragneel –or whoever he was-, that had sealed Edolas' magic away with a reverse Anima._

_"In fact, it is exactly what happened. All magic disappeared from Edolas. And that is the problem. The problem is…here."_

_He pointed at the newly discovered kingdoms he had drawn on the table._

_"Magic disappeared from _Edolas_, but it didn't disappear from _Edo_. Six months ago, we were still only past these unknown islands, Jellal, and some of them were still _floating_. We heard of the magic loss in King Azuma's seas. But past King Azuma's kingdom, islands were still floating."_

_Mystogan had paled, while Erza was feeling more and more upbeat._

_"How can that be?" asked Ur. "How can magic still be present? The Anima that swept it all was huge! It even swept the Exceeds away! Even magical artefacts were drained of their magical power!"_

_"Then," murmured Mystogan, "this means that the magic the Anima drained was only fleeting magic…"_

_"Yes," nodded Simon. "I don't know much about it, but I heard something about magical wells. This could mean that…"_

_"…Magic is produced by the inner fire of our planet Edo. I was a fool to think it would naturally be present in the air. That's why it was a finite resource…it was made by the core of Edo, and emitted during millenaries, accumulated into the atmosphere. How foolish I was! Edo only was at a younger stage than Earthland…that's why the density of eternano in its air was so much lower than Earthland's, and so we wizards couldn't refill our magic containers the way we used to…but other than that, it worked the same way!" exclaimed Mystogan, standing up in his agitation._

_"That means Edolas is an easy prey to these other kingdoms, if they still have their magic and we don't," remarked Erza._

_"And we're still recovering from the economic crash," added Rahal._

_"King Azuma's still threatening our Rakuen province. I didn't hear anything about him having magic, but if he does, we will be in great problems," said Totomaru._

_"No, magic did completely disappear from the air all over Edo, or so I think," explained Simon, shaking his head. "But the fact that the islands on the opposite side of Edo, that is to say, the islands the further from Edolas, still do float, means that magic is still stored into their core. This means that magic still exists into the Earth. Therefore, many people from these islands suspect that magic may be found by digging wells. The other kingdoms are currently at the same disadvantage than us; we only need to find magic wells before they do, otherwise we will be conquered in no time. The first kingdom to find magic will rule over Edo."_

_Mystogan fell back into his chair and held his head with both hands, sighing._

_"And here comes war again," he whispered in a quiet voice._

_He looked up, giving them a sad smile._

_"I will think over this matter carefully. You all are dismissed."_

Mystogan had not talked again about that matter. It was a difficult one, and she knew how conflicted he must have felt. A lot of different thoughts were wrestling in Erza's mind; she was delighted to learn that the world was so vast that they could go and discover new lands, and she was overjoyed to know she may one day be able to fight again with her dear Magic spear, the Ten Commandments. However, she knew that the return of Magic had to be feared; its threat was a serious one. More than ever, people would fight to obtain Magic, for one that possessed Magic had power to subdue all others.

The bell rang. It was time for lunch. She shook off her gloomy thoughts and headed back to the main cabin. Mystogan and Simon were already sitting at the table, happily chatting, and she couldn't help smiling. She was glad to see Duke Simon again, and she was very impressed by the effect his return had had on Mystogan's spirits. It was as if the King had been reborn; too much concerned with the economic crash of Edolas, Erza had never really looked at Mystogan. And thus she had overlooked something that she should not have; oh, she had very well remarked that Mystogan had been very distressed these last past months, but she had completely ignored how strong he had been at the beginning. During months, he had worn himself out to save Edolas from the ruin, and he had successfully stopped the economic crisis, rebuilt the cities and taken care of his people; but the Council had kept weighing him down, and Erza had kept spitting at him, and as a result his resolve had been shaken. She only realized now how much of a ghost Mystogan had been for the last months.

It was no wonder he had let her break down his defenses back then. But how on Hell did they end up in a relationship? He was totally trapping her now, there was no way she could back down from it! She glanced at Mystogan and Simon as they laughed over something Simon had said. Well, with his cousin's return, Mystogan had regained his strength. He was so changed she almost had a hard time recognizing him.

Mystogan saw her and smiled to her, his eyes soft and warm and his expression gentle. Yeah, almost. He still was the same person with this incredible kindness. Feeling all strange and fuzzy inside her chest, Erza sat next to him, searching desesperately for something to say. Cobra saved her from her embarrassment by plopping himself into the chair next to her, in such an unpolite way that Mystogan's attention switched to him. She sighed with relief -and, yeah, it could easily pass as if she was sighing because of Cobra's bad manners. Mystogan's teasing remark towards Cobra made everybody laugh, except her, and she was mortified because she realized she had listened to the music of his voice rather than the meaning of his words -resulting in her daydreaming about his voice and thus missing the whole thing. Mystogan glanced at her for a second, maybe a bit disappointed that she would remain so stuck-up when even Ultear was laughing, and she felt her cheeks burn up.

Oh God, please no! She hoped she did not blush; that would be the ultimate shame…

The Annual Visit was going on very well. Traia had prepared everything for their arrival. In a few days, Mystogan was done with his supervising, and the _Bakeneko_ sailed off to Gardamonde. Erza really enjoyed the joyful atmosphere and she was also very grateful to Simon, for he constantly was on Mystogan's back, resulting on the young king not being able to meet with his lover. That was for the best, thought Erza. She still needed to tell him that she wanted to break up, and so she needed to back away from him to gather her courage.

"Actually, I think you're missing him," said Cobra.

She had not heard him approaching, so she started, spilling her saké on her breastplate. Because it was dangerous to be fully armored on a ship, she was wearing stealth clothes with only light pieces of armor covering her chest, arms, and thighs. And so, her clothes were now drenched with alcohol. She glared at him as he sat next to her, his eyes glancing at the stars she had been watching dreamily.

"What are you doing here, spouting nonsense?" she snapped.

"Why, I came for the saké, of course," drawled Cobra, handing her a cup, obviously wanting her to fill it up.

She frowned.

"I am not filling it up for you. Do it yourself!"

"In Rakuen, people fill each other's cup."

Ah, then it was okay, if he was going to fill hers next. She took the bottle of saké and served him some. He drank it slowly, enjoying the strong taste of alcohol, before putting down his empty cup, taking hold of the bottle and serving her another cup. Erza smiled. She liked that particular way of drinking. She felt like two warriors relaxing after a hard battle.

"It's obvious you're missing him," said Cobra, watching her as she drank.

She glared at him again while he handed her the bottle. She filled up his cup.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Yes, you have. All you do all day long is pacing around the ship, sometimes training on the main deck, sometimes reading, and most of the time watching over him. You miss him."

He slowly sipped his saké and sighed with happiness. Saké apparently was bliss to him. Erza shook her head.

"Of course I watch over him. He's my King, it's my duty to protect him."

"Aaaaah…" smirked Cobra, leaning in, a playful smirk on his face. "I never said I was talking about King Mystogan, did I?"

She froze. That filthy snake! He had actually succeeded in tricking her! Cobra laughed while filling up her cup.

"Ha ha ha! You should see your face, Knightwalker, it's priceless!"

"You little!"

"I was talking about him, though. But the fact that you immediately thought of him just confirms that you miss him," he added.

A warm feeling spread through her chest, as it did each time she thought about Mystogan. Panicking, she gulped down her saké in one shot, earning herself a surprised look from Cobra.

"Hey, easy tiger! Saké must be savoured."

"Shut up and drink."

They did so for a few minutes. Then Cobra, his eyes still trailing around the stars in the dark sky, crooned softly;

"She's a sweet girl, that chick with the Ultear-bitch."

"Who, Meredy? Yes, I suppose she is."

"What's she doin' with her?"

"Don't be fooled by her gentleness. She's Ultear's subordonate, which means she knows how to fight."

His eyes lit up in interest.

"She can fight, really?"

"Yes, she used the Maguilty sword."

Cobra's slanted eyes widened with shock;

"Seriously? The Maguilty sword? Isn't that the sword that controls feelings and cuts through magic stuff?"

"It is."

He hissed appreciatively.

"She's a great chick."

"Ultear won't let you have her," replied mockingly Erza.

Payback was sweet, she thought as Cobra's tanned cheeks suspiciously reddened -and she doubted it had to do with the saké. Cobra was a heavy drinker.

"Tch! Anyway, you stink, Knightwalker."

"Huh?"

"You stink of alcohol!"

She stood up, unnerved.

"Of course I do! You made me spill my saké on my clothes!"

Cobra snickered at her. Scoffing, she left him with the empty bottle of saké and went back to her room. The smell and the stickiness of the saké on her made her feel uneased, and she wanted to clean up. However, as she passed by the private deck joining the cabins, she spotted Mystogan standing alone, leaning against the rail. As it was night time, there was nobody on the deck, and for once, Simon seemed to have let Mystogan be, so she thought it may be the perfect time to have a serious talk with him. Because of the saké, she felt braver; no doubt she would be able to break up with him.

"King Mystogan!" she called, strolling up to him.

Mystogan did not hear her, maybe because of the strong wind gushing along the sails of the Bakeneko. The saké made her jumpy, so walking upon him she suddenly gave him a hard shove, pushing him away from his spot while snapping;

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

She barely registered the great look of surprise on Mystogan's face before something went hitting her hard in the back and on her neck, throwing her overboard.

"ERZA!"

She crashed into the sea, hard. If she had not been already knocked out by the bloody hit, now she most certainly was! She desesperately fought against the dizziness in her head, but found that she could not move a limb, nor open her eyes. Her armor plates, even if light, were now driving her deep into the sea. She was sinking like a rock.

She was going to drown.

As that thought finally made its way through her mind, her eyes snapped open and she weakly struggled against the sea streams; but her whole body was aching, her limbs heavy, her armor weighing more and more, and she couldn't breathe!

_I am going to die. I am going to die!_

The night had made the sea pitch black. She did not even see which way was the way out. And then suddenly, a hand seized her hair and she yelped, the last bubbles of air leaving her mouth. Almost instantly an arm wrapped itself around her waist and she was pushed against someone's chest. The hand leaving her hair held her face as lips crashed against her own, forcing her mouth open and releasing the much needed air into it. Then the hand left her jaw and hurriedly ripped the armor plates off her body. Now feeling much lighter, Erza pushed on her legs and they both swam up, towards the new light that was shining over their heads.

As they broke through the surface of the sea, Erza registered that the light was actually Cobra holding out a lamp with a boat-hook. Seeing them surface, he threw a rope to them -and then Erza realized that_ Mystogan_ had been the one saving her.

At that point, her head went all dizzy, and she fainted.

As she slowly regained her conciousness, she heard voices and felt hot water on her body, then hands dragging her out of the water before rubbing her whole body with fluffy towels. She blinked and tried to focus on the blurry spots in front of her. Finally, she distinguished Ultear holding her and the two maids Meredy and Coco rubbing her. She blinked again before croaking in a raspy voice;

"Wha…what happened?"

"Don't worry, General Knightwalker, you will be fine," said Ultear in her usual firm voice.

Meredy started clothing her up, helped by little Coco, then Ultear dragged Erza out of the bath quarters. A moment later Erza found herself burried in her bed with a ton of fluffy duvets on top. Her mind was still all foggy and her neck hurt too. Coco served her some hot soup. As she slowly ate it, she registered that Cobra was sitting on the other bed, his katanas at arm's reach, and glancing around the cabin suspiciously.

"What happened?" managed to ask Erza again, the word choking out of her throat.

"You fell overboard," said Coco. "Thank God His Highness was there to save you!"

"But…how…"

Her throat hurt because of the salty water she had previously swallowed.

"An idiotic accident," said Cobra. "A pulley that was not properly tied and went ramming into your back. You have quite a large bruise on your neck, by the way."

"And…Mystogan…"

"Yeah, well, he was next to you when that happened, right? I heard him yell so I hurried over; he asked me to stop the ship and bring him light and then he dived to get you. So I went yelling around to let everybody know about the accident; the Corsair Prince made the ship stop by throwing the anchor and roll up the sails, and I brought a lantern to help the King. However, I doubt he would have been able to found you in this ink-black sea if you hadn't been wearing this."

"Uh?"

She blinked again, looking at her barrette he was pointing at. The barrette had been left on her bedside table, and it was fairly luminescent in the semi-dark cabin.

"It's…glowing," she murmured.

"Yes, it has a phosphorescent pearl on it. It's so rare and expensive, I didn't know you had one," said Coco, smiling.

Oh. That barrette had been a present from Duke Simon. He had bought it in the Eien islands, where people made a living of diving so as to search for them. Erza did not like girly stuff -she was a warrior, darn it! To think that such a useless thing as a barrette would save her life…

Coco and Cobra glanced at the door as it opened, revealing the imposing figure of the Duke. Simon smiled to them, entering the cabin.

"If you're done, Coco, could you please leave us?"

Coco took the empty bowl from Erza's hands, bowed, and left the cabin. Simon looked at Cobra, and did not say a word. However, Cobra understood the message and left as well, a defiant look on his face. Simon's eyes followed him until the door closed behind him.

"That mercenary is dangerous, you know that, Erza," said his deep voice.

Erza was beginning to feel sleepy, but she fought against it.

"I trust him."

Well that was something new. When did she even start trusting him anyway? Simon did not seem convinced, but he dropped the matter and sat next to her, watching her with concerned eyes.

"Are you okay?"

"Of course I am. Who do you think you're talking to?" she retorted.

He smiled.

"Heh. Still as proud as ever, aren't you?"

He reached for the strand of hair that was falling in her face and gently pushed it back behind her ear.

"You used to have longer hair. What happened to it?"

"Obviously, I cut it."

Her answer was short. She did not want to speak about Erza Scarlet. This was a private matter, and even if she did like Simon, she was not going to discuss it with him.

"Actually, it's starting to annoy me. I think I might cut it again and keep it short."

It was true. At first she thought she would grow back her hair as it used to be, and that was what she had been doing during the last year. But she felt slightly uneasy with her long hair, and she did not know why. Maybe she did not want Mystogan to see her as Scarlet. Or maybe the short hair was just more handy.

"That would be a shame," replied Simon, frowning. "Your hair is so beautiful, why would you cut it?"

"I am a warrior. Petty things such as hair does not concern me. Surely you didn't come here only to tell me about my hair?"

Simon laughed warmly, and she found herself grinning as well.

"Indeed. I came to apologize."

She raised an eyebrow.

"Apologize?"

"Yes," he confirmed, nodding. "I am mortified that such a terrible accident would take place on my ship. I hope you will not resent my _Bakeneko_ after this."

"Don't worry, Simon. An accident is only an accident. I am past this already."

But as she said those words, she felt her stomach clenching with dread, and she held up her breath for a second, frowning. What was that? Why did she feel so upset? It was not as if it was the first time she had almost died, so why was she feeling so disturbed?

"Say, Erza," said the Duke, "I heard some rumors about you and Jellal. Are they true?"

"Rumors?"

He smirked.

"Something about you being his lover."

She felt her cheeks warm up, and she blamed it on her tiredness and the saké she had drunk previously. She knew it was useless to deny it.

"Who told you this?"

"Pretty much everybody, actually. I even asked Jellal. It was kind of hard to draw answers out of him, but I did manage to eventually."

"People keep saying to me we should make it 'official'. I don't understand this bullshit."

"A king just can't have any private life, this you have to understand. Jellal was quite reluctant as well. I never thought he would become such a private person. He used to be such a charming kid before."

"Did he? I can't remember him. I don't think we even met when we were kids, anyway."

"Oh we did meet, Erza. I am not surprised you wouldn't recall it though, you barely talked to us. You were being trained by the Grand General and you were very busy when we saw you."

"Enough."

Erza's voice had turned cold, and she did not care if Simon's eyes showed something akin to hurt. There was one person Erza absolutely did not want to speak about, and on this ship it was already the second time that person was being brought up. She was still grieving the Grand General's death and she did not want to hear about him. After a short silence, Simon said, changing the topic;

"You know, I am under the impression your relationship with Jellal is quite distressing him."

When she did not answer, he got on;

"From the answers I got from Jellal, your relationship is solely based on sex, isn't it?"

"Is that a bad thing?"

"I think it is. Jellal is not that type of man. I am sure that such a relationship will only end up hurting his feelings."

"Are you saying I should break up with him?" she asked, somehow feeling a bit relieved.

Finally someone who would share her point of view! She was tired of all this love-shit thing everybody pushed her into. But Simon blinked at her, mouth agape;

"What? No! I was hoping for you to take feelings into account. You know you have feelings too, Erza."

"Not for him!" she snapped. "Enough! I am _not_ in love with King Mystogan, Simon! And I will never be! Is that clear or do I have to spell it out for you?"

Simon stood up, his eyes narrowing and his voice serious;

"Is that so? Then break up with him, Erza. I don't want you to hurt him! I am already far angered to find him in such a pitiful state after only one poor year of reign!"

"Are you implying that we did not support him well? How dare you! You weren't even there!"

"Yes, I am exactly implying that, Erza! You all, -Sugarboy, Hughes, Rahal, Totomaru, Ur, Coco…you all _failed_ him!"

And with these words, Simon turned his back to her and stormed out of the cabin. His words had slapped Erza in the face. She was furious and hurt, and the dread grew ten times stronger in her stomach. Simon was wrong about them; they had done all what they could to save Edolas from chaos! And Mystogan was _not_ as weak as he thought him to be; she had watched him all this time. She was being a pain in the ass and did not acknowledge him, but now that she thought back, she could only admire the strength Mystogan had shown as a king. These last months, he did seem tired, but she knew that it was because of these murder attempts. She knew that Mystogan knew it was only a matter of time before the Council finally gave in to him.

A soft knock on the door stirred her from her thoughts and she looked up.

"_Erza? May I come in?"_

She did not understand why she trembled just by hearing his voice, his so kind and worried voice. She did not answer, but he opened the door nonetheless and stepped in.

"Are you asleep?" he asked in a low voice, in case she would be.

She shook her head. She could not speak, could not look at him in the eye. She did not know why she had that dreadful feeling pooling in the pit of her stomach; a nausea that had not left her since the accident. He sat on her bed and cupped her cheek with his gentle hand, continuing in that damned concerned voice of his, that voice that made her all warm inside;

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. She could see what Simon was afraid of; Mystogan was strong as a King, but as a person, he really was too soft. She really needed to break up with him before it was too late. The hand on her cheek left her, slowly withdrawing to his lap.

"You seem a little bit off. Did you sleep a little?"

She shook her head again, sitting up, and took in a deep breath; she did not want her voice to waver.

"I am fine, My King. It's not the first time I had to deal with water. I didn't even have the time to be afraid."

"I did," he said.

She looked up for the first time, her brown eyes locking into his deep green ones. She noted that his hair was still slightly wet and was hanging down.

"I was scared as Hell to lose you," he got on, his voice serious and low. "And even now, I can't help thinking of what could have happened if you had been alone on that deck."

She paled.

"What…what do you mean?"

"If you had been alone on that deck," explained Mystogan, his eyes dropping to his lap and his shoulders slightly trembling, "nobody would have noticed you falling into the sea. You would have drown without any doubt, and before anyone would have realized you've been missing…you would already be on the sea floor. We would never have found you then…This…this is how scary the sea is."

She blanched. Her whole body shook from the fear and the realization. Oh, she was not scared for herself! But did he not realize? Did he not realize _at all?_

"Erza? Erza?"

She broke into a fit of sobs and burried her face into her hands, her whole body raking from the shock.

"Erza! I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that! Please calm down!"

He hugged her tightly against him, murmuring sweet words to her and stroking her hair and back. But she would not stop sobbing. The realization was too much.

"Idiot! Idiot!" she gasped, before reaching for him, her arms circling around his wraist. She held desperately onto him, but the fear would not go away.

"Idiot…" she cried out, her tears soaking his shirt.

Did he not realize? That _he _was the one who was alone on the deck back then? That _he_ was standing right in the way of that pulley before _she_ popped out of the main deck? That _she_ was the one who had made _him_ move away from that spot?

It had _not_ been an accident! It had been another murder attempt, and she could not bring herself to tell him. He had been so confident these last days, he had been so dynamic! He had found back the strength of a leader, that strength he had shown at the beginning of his reign, and that had withered because of all the opposition he had faced. And now that he finally was up again…there it was, a murder attempt right on his most trusted one's ship! She could not tell him. She would have to go and have a talk with Simon and tell him that a traitor had boarded the _Bakeneko__._ But Mystogan…she could not tell him. She would not tell him. Never, ever! She prefered him to think her as weak and scared of her near-death experience.

He was kissing away her tears, and she closed her eyes in abandon. She had to put his mind out of the "accident", or he would finally realize how wrong he was; and thus she stirred up and kissed him, her body still trembling in his arms -and his eyes widened of surprise, for she had never been so tender before. She brought him down with her in the bed, still kissing him, her hands unbuttoning his shirt. He let her do so, and, pushing his hesitation aside, untied her dressing-gown, feeling her skin under his palms.

Soon their bodies were pressed against each other, naked skin against naked skin, warmth spreading all over. Erza let her head fall back into her pillow as he gave her butterfly kisses all the way down her neck to her bust. She sighed as he caressed her, her hands holding on his shoulders, her legs parting as his hand went down her back, pressing her against him. She hugged him tightly and kissed him again; he set his hands on her hips and pushed inside of her. She let out a soft moan before kissing him again, her legs tying up around his waist, bringing him deeper into her. She sighed again and let herself go as she felt his strength filling her, his warmth invading her core, the pleasure softly ripling into her.

He was delibaretly slow at first -they were feeling each other, feeling each thrust as a caress -, then they became more and more passionate; however he was never rough. He was always…

_Like making love to me._

She immediatly pushed away this thought. It was a ridiculous one.

_Don't. Don't think. Just let yourself…drown into him._

* * *

**To be continued...**

So here it is! The return of magic! Hehe! I hope you liked the chapter! Next chapter will be more...fluffy. I think. Yeah. And please review, it really helps me a lot!


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